A Change
by Knight in Writing Armor
Summary: Loki is on a mission to find the Tesseract and rule Midgard, but meets someone who will change his life. Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**After seeing the Marvel movies, I became inspired by Loki. The story is almost completely AU, and my thought was that Loki managed to enslave Hawkeye, but was not able to take the Tesseract. This is my first Marvel fanfiction, so please review.**

A Change Ch 1

Loki looked around at the remains of the mortal camping site he had just destroyed. It had been months since he had last seen the Tesseract, and though he was eager to find it and get his revenge on his brother, he felt there was no problem in having a bit of fun. He kicked some of the smoldering remains away from him, reveling in the rush such violence provided him. This violence and mischief had always been the only release for him, because Thor had always been the favorite son, and always the most talented. He had always wondered why he did not possess the strength and battle lust that his brother and father had, until he had found out who he truly was.

The realization that he was not Asgardian had hit Loki hard, and he knew that it was for this reason that he wanted to take over Midgard and destroy it; to prove to Thor, his "parents," and even himself that he could do it, and he didn't need to be Asgardian to achieve greatness. He looked at himself in a reflection of twisted metal, and felt a twinge of remorse at who he had become. He was never meant to be this cruel, but being alienated as the lesser brother had made him so, and there was nothing anyone could do about it now.

He heard the one they called Hawkeye approach him, and as he turned, he could tell the news wasn't good. The blank ice-blue eyes of his slave told him that they had not managed to find the cube, and that almost twenty of his slaves had been killed in the struggle with S.H.I.E.L.D. he mind seethed with anger and renewed calculations. What was he to do now? The Chitauri king would not be pleased at all, and he couldn't afford to waste time, unless his brainless brother decided to come after him using the AllFather's power. He looked up at the sky, and said to Hawkeye,

"Very well, though you have failed me this time, I will stay my hand from punishment as long as you carry out your next task swiftly and efficiently."

Barton inclined his head and responded,

"Of course, my lord."

He sent the young man on a mission that would hopefully distract S.H.I.E.L.D. long enough for him to find the Tesseract. He knew the mission was risky, and he would have to go into the very heart of the city the mortals called New York to hope to find the Tesseract, but he knew he had to do it. Of course, if Hawkeye failed him, he would be able to punish him severely, and hopefully make the seemingly unshakeable agent Romanoff watch. He had seen into Barton's mind, and knew their relationship, and felt he might as well kill two birds with one stone, as it were.

He fingered the spear in his hand, longing to cause more destruction. _Patience_, he told himself, _if the plan works, you will be king of this world, and all of the Avengers will be dead, including Thor_. He knew his brother was too attached to the mortal woman Jane Foster to allow her to be killed while he watched, even if it meant stroming to Migard using the last of Odin's strength to do so. He had no idea of self-preservation, which was why it had been so easy for Loki to predict his moves, even in childhood.

He looked around the campsite again, and thought about how much more efficient he would be once he finally had the Tesseract. He watched Barton until he was out of sight, and then mustered the rest of his strength and focused on the energy in his spear to take him nearer to the city that would, hopefully, make his dreams come true.

Vivian Newman woke up in the cushy hotel room in New York City. It was only eight in the morning, but she was too nervous to go back to sleep. She had a meeting with the famous Tony Stark (aka Iron Man) that day, to ask him about the allegations of animal testing on his latest "green" products.

She rolled out of the bed, and walked into the bathroom. She had not slept well that night, and she looked like a mess. Her long brown hair was tangled, and she had dark shadows under her eyes. She knew she would have to wear makeup (which, normally, she was loath to do), or else she would look like a vampire in front of one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. She knew she had hours until the meeting, so she decided to go over her notes again, and make perfectly sure what she was going to ask Stark. She sat back down on the bed, and pulled out the many notebooks and binders that Sean, her boss, had given her before she had left. She liked Sean, and she liked what he was trying to do, but she wasn't sure that she was the one to face off against Tony Stark. She worked at an animal rights organization and magazine that was based in Texas, and she was far more comfortable writing articles about things that did _not_ involve talking to someone who was so self-confident and so, well, good looking.

The time passed too quickly, and before she knew it, Vivian was getting ready and trying to put on makeup without stabbing herself in the eye with an eye pencil. _This is why you should never send me places, Sean. I am far more comfortable sitting in a mess of dirty dogs than I am talking to some billionaire about his alleged animal cruelties._

She thought about Sarah, her best friend, who had been exceedingly envious when she had found out about Vivian's trip to New York City. She had always been better at speaking to actual people than Vivian was.

She looked at the clock and sighed. _Well, I should get going…I guess._

She picked up her bag, and her primary notebook, and went downstairs to find a shiny black car waiting for her. _Oh honestly, Sean_, she thought, rolling her eyes. The car took her through the tightly-packed streets of New York City. They pulled up to the magnificent Stark Tower, and she looked up at it, shocked at the massive display of wealth in the middle of the city.

She got out of the car, and walked into the huge building, where there were what seemed like thousands of people going in and out of it. She walked to one of the four front desks to a thin woman who was talking rapidly behind the desk. She was speaking rapidly into the phone next to her, and Vivian tried to wait patiently, but she was afraid that she would be late if she didn't find out where to go soon.

The woman finally got off of the phone, and looked at her with a rather snarky look on her face,

"Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah," said Vivian, "I have a meeting with Tony Stark at eleven. Could you tell me-"

"Hold on," she interrupted, looking at the computer in front of her, "Yeah, go right up. I'll give you the code up to the top floor."

She grabbed a sticky note and wrote a few numbers on it, then directed Vivian to the correct elevator. She got in, with a few others, but they got out before she entered in the code that would take her to Tony Stark.

The wait to the top floor seemed endless, but she finally saw the final level pop up, and gripped her notebook tightly. The doors opened, and Vivian was not prepared for the scene of chaos that met her eyes.

Loki was too busy trying to kill Stark to notice when the elevator doors opened, but Stark's momentary pause in trying to pummel him shocked him. He was too stunned to try and escape and look for the Tesseract, for he knew that it was here, but he looked around instead, trying to fathom why the Hel Stark would stop trying to stop him.

He saw the girl, and knew that this was his best chance of escape, before the other Avengers arrived. As much as he wanted the Tesseract, he knew that, if they all arrived, he would be done for. He could take Stark, but the Hulk, the Captain, and Romanoff he could not take on his own. He had sufficiently distracted S.H.I.E.L.D. enough with Barton trying to blow up half of New Mexico, but the Avengers stayed in New York, and he had always know that they would.

Using Stark's momentary lapse in concentration to his advantage, he threw the man off of him, and grabbed the woman. She was frozen in shock, but almost immediately began to try to throw him off, not that it made much difference. _Foolish mortal_, he thought happily, _as if she could compete with a god._ he mustered all of his magic, and teleported himself and the girl to hang above Stark Tower.

Upon looking down, the girl gasped and clung to him even tighter.

"What the fuck is this? What the hell are you doing?"

He paid her no attention however, and looked at Stark, who was staring up at them, too wary to approach and try to save the girl. Loki saw the rest of the motley crew that was the Avengers run onto the roof as well, so he decided to make his exit rather grand.

"I warn you," he began, relishing the fact that he could make them all look so sacred, "that if you attempt to stop or follow me, I will drop the girl right here and now."

Upon hearing this, the young mortal in his arms pressed herself even tighter against him and said,

"Don't you fucking dare."

Her voice was supposed to be menacing, but it was all Loki could do not to laugh at her. She had no idea who he was or what he was capable of. Yet, for some unknown reason, he had no intention of carrying out his threat. He didn't want to drop this girl. He didn't want her to die. He couldn't put a finger on why he felt this way, but he knew that he would not, _could not_, drop her.

"Loki!" cried the Captain desperately, clearly terrified for the young woman he held, "There is no need for this kind of thing! Come down, so we can talk rationally!"

"Rationally!" Loki cried, laughing, "You know nothing of rationality, Captain. As if you fools would be rational around me! I would be imprisoned and have my magic taken away within three seconds if I decided to 'cooperate' with the likes of you."

Before any of them could say anything else, he repeated,

"I warn you not to follow me, or she dies," he then gathered his magic again and vanished to a dark and secluded city street.

**Well, what do you think? Reviews are always welcome and completely appreciated!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! I am so honored by all the favorites, alerts, and reviews that I have already received for the story! Thank you so much, they really do make my day.**

**Just a quick note about my version of Loki. I always thought that, as a master of magic, he would be able to see into people's minds, even if he doesn't "control" them. This will be an important part of the story.**

A Change Ch 2

Vivian threw herself away from the man as soon as she felt solid ground underneath her feet, but she went too far and almost fell, until the man moved lithely forward and caught her swiftly. She tried to twist away, but he held her steadily, and set her back on her feet before letting her go. She backed away, and tried to keep a brave face, by looking at her kidnapper.

He was tall, much taller than her, and was dressed in green and gold armor, with a magnificent horned helmet on top of his head. His hair was black and he was pale and lanky, but she good not deny how good-looking he was. He was looking at her, with shockingly green eyes, rather arrogantly and she tried to stare just as arrogantly back, but she could tell it was not working.

"Who are you?" Vivian demanded, looking at him.

"I need not give you my name, mortal," he said, regarding her with a raised eyebrow. She was taken aback by this response, and it made her angry to hear someone speak to her this way.

"Oh, I just thought because you _kidnapped_ me and _threatened my life_, that I might be able to know who you were, but I guess not."

"You guessed correctly," he said, fluidly, "Now, if you're done asking stupid questions, I can take you to where you reside, or you can walk wherever you want to go, even though I sense that this is not your city."

Vivian weighed her options. She could go with him and risk being taken somewhere and sold into slavery or something, or she could wander the city for hours. She knew it was probably wiser to wander the city, but she wanted, for some unfathomable reason, to trust this man.

"All right," she said, "I'm staying in the Hilton hotel on Broadway."

"Very well. I shall take you there at once."

He grabbed her by the waist again, and they disappeared and immediately reappeared right outside the hotel that she was staying in. She looked at him, still shocked at everything that had happened.

The man looked at her and bowed his head slightly.

"I bid you a good day," he said, and he began to walk back down the street.

"Wait!" she cried running after him. He turned, rather reluctantly, seemingly oblivious to all the stares he was attracting with his spear, armor, and helmet. He stood in front of her, waiting for her to speak.

"At least…at least tell me your name," she said, desperate to know something about him, anything about he captor and savior.

He looked at her, an eyebrow raised, and she was sure, for a moment that he would not answer her.

"Loki," he said, simply.

She looked at him, and said, under her breath,

"Loki."

She looked up to ask him another question, but he was gone. She looked around, trying to see where he had gone, but then remembered that he could…teleport. Teleport? Teleport? Did that really happen? Was she dreaming? Was she crazy?

She shook her head, and walked back towards the hotel, pulling her hotel card out of her bag as she went. As she headed up to her hotel room, she tried to think of what she was going to say to Sean, and why she didn't get the interview with Tony Stark. Yet, as she approached her door, Vivian saw that it was already ajar.

She rushed over to it and saw that it was full of people. Some of the nearest turned to her as she stood, flabbergasted in the doorway.

She recognized Tony Stark as he came up to her and grabbed her by the shoulders and said,

"What'd he do to you? Are you okay?"

She looked at him, blankly, and then said,

"What are you doing here?"

The group looked at her, and then at each other. There was a hugely muscled man in a blue and red suit, a red-haired woman dressed in black, Stark, a nondescript and gentle looking man, and the most normal looking man she had ever seen.

"We thought Loki would have killed you, so we found out everything we could about you, so we could deal with your death appropriately. What did he do to you, anyway?" said Stark.

"Nothing," she said, "Not a thing. Wait, how'd you find out where I was staying?"

"We have our sources," said Stark, simply.

"Do you know where Loki went?" demanded the woman.

"No," she said simply. Then, an idea hit her, and she knew that they would laugh at her, but she felt there was no better time to ask. She was, after all, rather desperate.

"Mr. Stark, if I may, could we possibly, um, have that interview now?"

Stark looked at her as if she were insane, and she supposed she might be, but she wanted to push what had happened today from her mind, and she might as well get what she had come for while she was at it. She had to get the interview, anyway, and she didn't want to think about Loki. At least, not yet.

"It's just that, well, my boss, Sean-he'll want me to do the interview and-"

"Your boss?" said the normal looking man, "We just contacted him and, um, he thinks you're dead."

"What! Oh, god, what if he tells my parents!" she cried and immediately grabbed her phone and called Sean. He picked up after the first ring and said,

"Hello? Who's this?"

"Sean? Sean? It's me! There's been a…mistake. I'm not actually dead."

The comedy of the situation almost overwhelmed her, and it was all she could do not to burst out laughing. _Situations like this never really help my sanity_, she thought wryly.

"Oh thank god!" said Sean, relief flooding the other end of the phone.

"I kind of have to go though, just tell my parents I'm alright would you? And…I'm not sure the interview is going to happen…"

"Yeah, of course, that's fine. I'll let them know, okay?" Sean's voice was still shaking with relief as he hung up. Sometimes, she really did love her boss.

Vivian turned back to the group that was surveying her and thought how she really, in her heart, wanted to know more about Loki and what was going on. So she said,

"Screw the interview, tell me what I need to know about Loki. Who is he? What does he want?"

They all looked at her again, and then, Stark said,

"You'd better come with us."

Loki was sitting on top of some inconsequential building in the city, and was trying to plan his next move, and not think about the woman he had just met. He had seen her mind, and knew everything, everything about her. _Vivian_, that was her name. A nice name, for a mortal, anyway. Why had he told her his _actual_ name? he was the God of Lies, after all. Why hadn't he just lied to her? He hadn't been _able _to lie to her, and this worried Loki. He had always been able to lie to anyone, and make it sound like the truth. He shook his head, and kept trying to form a plan.

He had to find a way to get to Stark Tower again, to find the Tesseract.

_Long brown hair that was whipped around in the wind._

He had to get in contact with Barton, they needed to regroup.

_Green eyes that were filled with fear._

He had to get out of the city, before they began hunting him.

_Hands that clutched his armor, his cape, holding him._

They would be after him soon. Too soon. He needed to leave. Now.

_Holding her. In the air. Both of them. He could feel her anger, her fear, her everything._

He shook his head, trying to clear it, and form an actual plan. He had no business feeling such emotions, especially not in regards to a mortal. _A mortal!_ _What was he thinking? He had other things to attend to, far more important things than…_

He stood up, and mustered his magic again, determined to rethink his plan, and find the Tesseract. Yet, unbidden in his mind, he remembered when he and Thor had fought, and he had demanded of his brother what had turned him so soft on Midgard. It had been impossible for him to believe that Thor would be so changed by nothing but a mortal woman. Was the same happening to him? No, he would not let that happen. Not to him. He would not allow it.

With this newly found resolve, he mustered his magic, and went to get Barton, so they could form a new plan to find the Tesseract.

**So…what'd you think? As an aside, I've never been to New York, so I seriously just made up that hotel address, so forgive me if it's wrong (and I would be insanely lucky if there was a Hilton hotel on Broadway!) Please review! They make my day!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you all so much for your continued support of the story, all of the emails I've been getting really make my day! **

**To address a really good question by Runningshadow135, the reason Loki became so infatuated with Vivian so quickly was because of the apparent power that Midgardian women have over Asgardian men. I thought about how quickly Thor fell for Jane Foster, and while it's true that he is much more willing to love than Loki, it always struck me how quickly their relationship progressed. So, I always thought that, (even for someone like Loki, who seems so unreachable), the women of earth have a sort of power that Thor and Loki cannot understand. By the same token, I always felt that Loki just wanted someone to love him, because of how bad his life on Asgard was.**

**It was a really good question to bring up, and please ask these questions, because chances are I have an answer to them, but just didn't put them down in the story.**

**Enjoy!  
**

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A Change Ch 3

"So he's the one I've been hearing about on the news?" asked Vivian, looking at Coulson.

"Damn. We thought we had them covered," said Stark, shaking his head.

"You control the news, too?" Vivian couldn't believe the power S.H.I.E.L.D seemed to have.

"We control everything. Anything and everything that could expose some of the world's most guarded secrets. Anything that endangers the people and those secrets can cause us to take some…drastic measures," said Agent Romanoff, looking steadily and rather unnervingly at Vivian.

"So…he's not from…Loki's not from this…"

"Planet?" said Steve, (or Captain America), helpfully, "I'm afraid not ma'am. It was a bit of a shock to me too, believe me."

She stared at all of them, privately thinking that they were not exactly _normal _either. At least Coulson, Stark, Banner, and Romanoff were human…but Captain America, even though he was perhaps the nicest of the bunch, did not seem at all human. He was too tall, too strong, and too good-looking to be human.

She was still puzzled as to why they told who and what they were…she was just a mistake. Why would they tell her what they were?

"Why have you told me all this?"

"Well," said Coulson, "You're mixed up in it now, I'm afraid Ms. Newman. You had a right to know."

"When you say 'mixed up,' do you mean Loki will come after me? _Again_?"

"It's possible," said Banner, looking gently at her, "He's not known for letting targets go, so that's why we immediately thought you were dead. He's a very…thorough creature."

"But…I can go home, right?" Vivian asked, terrified that she would be kept with them at all times. She was sure they were all very nice, but she wanted to go home, to her friends and animals, to her life.

"Yes, but you'll have to have extra security with you. Loki could come for you at any time," said Coulson.

"Why are you trying so hard to protect me? I'm just one, rather unimportant person."

They all looked at each other, rather nervously, until Romanoff said, boldly,

"We don't know why Loki would have spared you, but we think we can use you to catch him."

"Use me? To catch him? But-"

"It would require little to no effort on your part. Your place of residence will be rigged with security, so if he shows up, we will know," said Coulson, trying to be reassuring.

"But why would he come back for me? He doesn't even know where I live!"

"Loki can find out pretty much anything he wants to. He's fun that way. He even stole our Leoglas."

"Your Legolas?"

"Agent Barton," said Romanoff, in a rather tight voice, "Our best sharpshooter was enslaved by Loki. And Stark affectionately calls him 'Legolas.'"

"But that's not the point," said Coulson, "You'd be perfectly safe, Ms. Newman, and your cooperation would mean that we'd capture the most dangerous man in the world."

Vivian sighed. She knew, from all of their tones, that she had no choice. She had to do what they wanted.

"Fine," she said resignedly, "But can you take me home now?"

* * *

Loki was pacing angrily in front of Barton. _What nonsense_, he thought bitterly, _how would they have known that Barton was going to New Mexico. It simply doesn't make sense. These mortals have never been this clever. _

He was fuming. Barton had barely escaped when he arrived in New Mexico. They had been waiting for him. How was he supposed to find the Tesseract now? Was S.H.I.E.L.D. tracking their position even now? Were they already on their way?

_Damn these idiotic creatures, and their standing in the way of my rule._

What was he to do now? He could hardly go back to New York City, because they would have heard about his attempted stealing of the Tesseract, and the tower would be more heavily guarded than ever. He needed to find more followers. He needed a place to plan, a place to regroup and think. But where could he go that would not tip them off immediately.

He thought of the woman, Vivian, and his voice of reason told him to go near her was dangerous for more than one reason. But he was drawn to her, for reasons he could not begin to understand. And he did not like not understanding things. He always wanted to know the right answer, but, this time, he could not figure it out.

He stared up at the night sky, and knew that, in all probability, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have her protected. But he was smarter than they, he knew it. He could find ways around their detection. He had done it before, and would do it again. He had never been to that…province of Midgard, anyway, they would have no reason to suspect he would go to…Texas, he thought it was called. Yet, he knew it was risky. He even knew it was stupid and, in general, he did not like doing stupid things. He did not know why, but some part of him needed to go, and, for the first time in his life, he was willing to listen to that small part of him. He had never listened to it; that part that told him to do what was risky, that part that told him to stand up for himself, that part that told him to show his feelings for others. He always listened to reason. That was part of who he was. Reason was more important than feeling. He had always known that. That was why he had never been well liked, like Thor. Thor always listened to his feelings, which was why he was so hot-headed and ridiculous. Loki didn't want to be reduced to that. But…what could this hurt? It was not as if he was going to go _see_ her or anything. He would go just to show that part of his mind that he needed no one and nothing. He had always been alone, and always would be.

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**So, the end was a little angst-y, but how do you like it? The reviews make me write faster, so please keep them coming. Please feel free to give me questions, comments, concerns, or ideas! I'm open to anything! P.S. it was no mistake that they didn't tell Vivian about the Hulk, (there was really only so much she could handle in one day, and that they could expose!)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Again, thank you all so much for the story alerts and favorites, they really do mean the world to me!**

**As a clarification, when I said that the women of earth had a "power" over the men of Asgard, I was counting Loki among the men of Asgard, because he was raised in Asgard. I am well aware that he is a frost giant, but he was never raised as one.**

**Enjoy, and please keep reviewing!**

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The Change Ch 4

Vivian fell upon her dogs when she walked into her house. Nothing worked so well to calm her nerves as being around her own animals. They had a cathartic effect that no one, not even Vivian could explain. She tried to calm them all down as the S.H.I.E.L.D agents entered her house without preamble, and began taking measurements and putting up security measures. The dogs were running around like crazy, barking at the intruders, and simultaneously trying to lick her ears. She chivied them into a separate room, and closed the door, somehow taking pleasure in their incessant barking- it reminded her of home, and home was what she needed. These past few days had felt like they were out of someone else's life.

Vivian walked back out into her living room, and Coulson, (who had accompanied her home), said, gesturing to the room she had just put the dogs in,

"We'll need to get into that room, as well, Ms. Newman."

She raised an eyebrow at him and said,

"Well it was either put them in there or have you all ripped to pieces. Which would you prefer?"

"I understand. They have to be moved though, we can leave no weak spot in our defenses, or Loki will find it."

She said nothing and walked into the kitchen. Normally, she would have gotten a drink and sat down to enjoy being home, but having so many strange people in her house reminded her that this nightmare was not yet over. Not only was she probably going to be targeted by a mass murderer from another planet, but she also had to be monitored twenty-four hours a day. She took pride in being independent, she had been since she was eighteen. After college, she had begun work with Sean, and, though she saw her parents regularly, she had never moved back in with them. She had always managed to be self-sufficient, no matter how many jobs she had to work to achieve that. But now, she felt dependent, dependent on S.H.I.E.L.D and their security.

They moved through the house for the next two hours, putting up minuscule cameras, microphones, and sensors throughout it. The only places Vivian would not allow a camera were her bathroom and her bedroom. Coulson tried to argue, but Vivian would not budge, and he eventually conceded that her requests were indeed reasonable.

When they began packing up, Coulson came up to Vivian and shook her hand, saying,

"Well, I have other places to be Ms. Newman, I thank you for your cooperation."

She smiled at him, and said,

"Thanks for…uh, everything Coulson."

"You'll be hearing from us regularly."

"Um, okay."

He walked out of her house, and she watched as all the men and women filed out into their completely conspicuous black cars, and drove off in a cloud of dust. She turned back to the house and sighed, thinking she needed to free the dogs before they broke down the door.

* * *

Loki was wandering through a large city in the Midgardian province of Texas, (unseen of course). He was sure the heat here was worse than in Muspelheim. It was almost worse than the desert province of New Mexico, for that heat was dry, but this heat made him feel as though he were slogging through boiling water.

_How do these mortals reside in these terrible conditions? I thought Jotunheim was bad. Asgard never had weather like this…_

He pushed the thought of Asgard out of his mind. He did his best not to think of it, or his previous life. Hard as it was for him to admit, it hurt too badly to think about Asgard and his mother, and it made him too angry to think about Thor and Odin. He had tried to please his father and brother for too long, and he could not think of them any longer. Yet, however much he tried to suppress them, memories of his past bubbled to the forefront of his mind.

_His father was shouting at him for wanting to pursue the study of magic._

"_Father, please. I am no warrior, like Thor."_

"_It is because you never tried. You always gave up. You are too much a weakling!" shouted Odin, pacing back and forth._

_He drew back, shocked that his father would say such things to him. They had always been there, unspoken, but he never thought he would say them. Not to his face._

_His mother approached and put a hand on his father's arm and said,_

"_Odin, Loki is old enough to make his own decisions."_

"_Not when those decisions show that my son is weak, and thereby brining shame on the house of Odin!" _

_Loki felt hot tears stinging in his eyes, but forced them back, determined not to show his father how deeply his words cut him._

"_Surely it will not bring us shame, but glory!" continued his mother, "Having one of our sons trained in the art of magic will be a blessing!"_

_Odin looked at Loki, and Loki could see in his father's eyes a thousand disappointments. He would never be the worthy son. Not when there was Thor: warrior, brave, strong, a perfect son. _

_Odin sighed, and nodded his ascent. He approached Loki and put his hands on his shoulders. _

"_Make me proud, Loki."_

_He walked away. His mother looked at him, and saw the tears threatening to spill from her son's eyes, and gently took him in her arms._

"_Do not worry, Loki. Your father will warm up to the idea. Once he sees how you succeed-"_

"_He does not care for me. I am merely the worthless second son, incapable of killing even a fly with a sword," said Loki, angry tears still in his eyes, looking bitterly after his father._

"_He does not feel that way, Loki. Your father loves you, truly."_

_He looked at her, sourly, still fuming about what his father had said. _

"_He has a funny way of showing it."_

_She smiled at him, glad he still had some of the spark that she was so used to seeing in him. She took his face in her hands and said, quietly,_

"_Always know, my Loki, that _I _am proud of you."_

_She kissed his forehead, and he watched her go, hoping beyond hope that what she said was true._

He jerked out of these memories and looked quickly around, drawing on the minds from those around him to try and find out exactly where he was.

A part of him hated the practice of looking in other's minds, because it caused him to _know_ their feelings, the good and the bad. But, it was a useful tool, and in cases such as these, it was necessary.

He understood that he was in the capitol city of the province, though he wasn't sure what this meant. But he did know that this was the city he had seen in her mind…in Vivian's.

What was he doing here? He needed to be trying to find the Tesseract. But…with S.H.I.E.L.D. undoubtedly trying to protect her from him, perhaps it was in his best interest to get nearer her, and get himself captured. They would probably take him back to Stark Tower, and then he would be near the Tesseract. He was sure that he could break through whatever petty technologies they threw at him. This was the best thing for him to do…or was this just another excuse to be near her?

_What is happening to me? Is nothing but a Midgardian woman going to cause such weakness in me? Am I to be so changed by a mortal? Am I to abandon the Tesseract for her? No. I cannot abandon the Tesseract. The Chitauri would not allow it, and I would rather not incur their wrath. I must go on, but I must also make to New York. Perhaps capture is the best way to get there. Their puny technology will be no match for the likes of me…a god._

He smiled to himself knowing that the could use Vivian (no, he must call her "the woman" from now on) to be captured easily by S.H.I.E.L.D. and taken to Stark Tower, and the Tesseract.

He was determined not to think of her in any way other than a part of his game. He knew, as much as it pained him, that it would be best if she never knew who he truly was.

* * *

Phil Coulson received the call he had been expecting for months at three in the morning. There was no greeting, no nothing on the other end, except those words that he had waited for for a long, long time.

"Sir, he's back."

* * *

**So now we have another character introduced! A free internet hug to anyone who can guess who this character is! I know this chapter was a little angst-y, and Odin was pretty aggressive to Loki, but I was trying to reflect how Loki would have seen Odin's behavior to him (because it would be swayed a certain way). Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Gah! I can't get over how many wonderful alerts and reviews I've gotten, thank you all so much, really! No tangents today, enjoy!**

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A Change Ch 5

Vivian walked into the familiar building that she had called her second home for nearly three years now. There was the familiar smell of mingled paper and animal hair in the air, and despite all she had been through in the past few days, she could not help but find it comforting. She walked over to her computer, and was surprised to see a sticky note on the screen, considering she was the first one there.

_Ms. Newman, we have this building covered. None of your coworkers need ever know, so don't worry about that. Coulson._

_Fuck_, she thought, _why do they have to stalk me at work as well?_ She looked around. The building looked perfectly normal, there were no signs that a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had been there the night before, rigging the place with cameras and microphones and who knew what else. The strange thing was, Vivian felt that this was a bigger invasion of her privacy than the cameras in her own house. Not only has S.H.I.E.L.D. done this without asking, but it now seemed like the nightmare of her New York trip would never end. She had thought that she could escape the cameras for a few minutes at work, to clear her head and make her feel as though she had come vestiges of privacy left in her life, but she supposed that "being monitored" had to be extended to her workplace as well.

She simply sat in her chair for a while, swiveling back and forth, and trying to keep her mind blank. She got up, rather suddenly, and decided to go out back to where they housed the animals in the shelter. They always managed to clear her head of any sort of stress she was going through.

It was times like these when she felt immensely grateful for being able to work where she did. She was not only able to write for the magazine, but also be around the animals that she loved.

She walked through the rows of cages, listening happily to the barks of the dogs, and the faint meows of the cats in the next room. The shelter wasn't very big, but it was all they could do. The magazine was successful, but that was how they paid for the food, medical care, and everything else for the shelter.

Vivian walked through the shelter for a while, clearing her head and trying not to think about the back that she was being watched.

Eventually, she went back to her desk, and waited for Sean. He was always late, but always came in with a smile. He took pride in his work, and always had the best interest of his employees and his animals in mind. She had met him in college, and had been blown away by what he wanted to do. That was why she had come back to Texas, to see if he had actually accomplished some of the many goals he had had in college. She had worked for him ever since, and was proud to, because of how much he cared for the animals.

Her reverie was interrupted by Sean himself walking in. He was, of course, holding the leashes of his three dogs, and holding a foster kitten in his arms. When he saw Vivian, he dropped the leaches, and pulled her into a hug,

"God dammit don't ever do anything like that to me again!"

She laughed, happy to see him, feeling it had been a lifetime since she had last left the office.

"Oh Sean, I'm fine. It's just been…a very long week."

"No shit. I had everyone asking about you, because you were supposed to come back four days ago. They were all on me about it, and what the hell could I say? I just told them it took longer to get the interview than you had thought, I'm not sure how you'll manage to cover the fact that you didn't actually get the interview."

"I'll just tell them that it was no good or something clever like that," she said, smiling at him. He grinned back and said,

"It's good to have you back."

She laughed to herself as he walked back to his office. She hoped that he wasn't speaking too soon.

* * *

Thor looked at the other Avengers angrily. He did not want to be the one to capture his brother, but his father had sent him down to do it. It had cost the AllFather most of his energy to get him to Midgard. He wanted to see Jane, not try and find his brother, though he also wanted, however strange it may seem, to see Loki. He was his brother, after all. He knew now why he and Loki had been so different, but he would not accept that they were not brothers. They were brothers. They always would be.

He looked down at the hammer that Loki had wanted for so long. He wondered if Loki would ever accept him as a brother again. When they had fought, he had seemed mad, deranged, and so unlike the person that Thor had grown up with. He supposed he should have realized earlier that his father had always played favorites, and that Loki had been consistently pushed to the side, always overshadowed by him. His father had always looked favorably on what Thor had done, and had often, too often, taken Loki for granted. Maybe, if he had not let this happen, Loki would not be trying to take over Midgard.

He looked at the Avengers, and part of him wanted to just go home, live peacefully in Asgard until he was called to Valhalla. He knew he couldn't do that though. He knew that he had to find Loki, and to join the Avengers to save this world.

* * *

He looked over at Barton, who was watching him reverently with his icy blue eyes. He was pacing back and forth, in another secluded field, where they would not be spotted. Was it really true? Could Thor have come back? If he had, it would ruin everything, because, idiotic though his former brother was, he was more able to track Loki than anyone else on Midgard. This meant that he had to move much more quickly than he had previously thought.

"Barton. I need you to distract the Avengers at all costs. I cannot have them meddling in my affairs, like so many insects."

"Yes, my lord. Need I know anything else about your plans?"

"Of course not, fool. I have better things to do than to tell you every detail of my plans."

Barton merely nodded, ever the perfect slave. He began to walk away, back to the car he had stolen to rendezvous with him. He knew how to find his way. Loki needn't be too worried about Barton getting himself caught.

After the car had torn out of sight, Loki thought about how best to proceed. He could not simply walk into her house, that would be far too obvious. He also knew she had animals of some kind, probably with teeth that, while they would make no dent in his armor, might tear his cape, and his vanity would certainly not allow that. He didn't want to hurt her, either, that would just cause a mess and…nothing. She was nothing to him, of course.

He decided to watch her movements for a day, and then proceed accordingly. He knew the Tesseract would soon be within his reach, and, hopefully, she would soon be out of his mind.

* * *

**Well, what do you think? I felt that I had to add Thor in there, just so we can have some view from the Avengers perspective. This was a rather short Loki section, but it will be longer next time, I promise!  
**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry it's been so long since I posted a chapter, but life has certainly gotten in the way of writing my story. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I'll try to post more often! Enjoy!**

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A Change Ch 6

The next few days passed easily enough for Vivian. She went to work, went home, ate, slept, cared for her animals and tried to act as if everything was normal. She tried not to think about the cameras that were watching her every move. She tried not to be paranoid about every little movement in her house. She tried not to think about what had happened to her to cause all this.

She had certainly caused a commotion when she had returned back to work. All her friends and coworkers had been shocked to see her back, and were surprised that she didn't have the story she had gone to New York to get. She simply told them that Tony Stark had refused the interview, and that, even though she had stayed longer in the city to try and secure the interview, it did not work. They were sufficiently angry at what had happened, and it was clear that they did not suspect that anything else had happened. Part of her wanted to tell them, but she knew that they would either not believe her or S.H.I.E.L.D. would take her out. She sometimes wondered if they would indeed take her out, because of how much she knew. Coulson had insisted that they wouldn't, but she had always been a little paranoid about things, and being involved with something like S.H.I.E.L.D. had not made that paranoia any better.

One evening, about four days after S.H.I.E.L.D. had installed their equipment in her house, Vivian was sitting in her living room with her animals, watching television, when she heard a knock on the door. This was very unusual, because Vivian didn't have any neighbors, and she usually heard when cars pulled into her driveway. She got up, and went to the door, and opened it.

There he was. Dressed in the same outfit as when she had met him before, with the same smirk on his face, was Loki. He regarded her haughtily, and stepped inside without waiting for her to speak. She let him, in utter shock that he could have gotten past all the security measures that S.H.I.E.L.D. had put in place around her.

She stood back, looking at him, and trying not to look scared. She was pretty good in self defense, but she was facing someone who was much taller, and (from what she had heard) much more experienced in battle than she was. They stood there looking at each other, before her fight or flight instinct kicked in, and she headed towards the door.

He appeared in front of her in a second, before she could get to the door. _How does he do that?_

His lip curled at her attempt to get away, and that made her angry, and anger made her reckless.

"What, are you here to kidnap me and scare the living shit out of me again?" she said, looking at him, half hoping her would leave, half hoping for a rise out of him.

"Ah, foolish mortal, you fail to comprehend why I am here."

"Oh, excuse me for not knowing why you're stalking me."

"You are part of the plan, my dear. In fact, you are my key to what I want. And though S.H.I.E.L.D. is no doubt on their way, they must know that I know that they are listening to every word we say. Your Midgardian technologies are no match for me, a god."

She cocked an eyebrow at him. He was so arrogant, so cocky, so ridiculous.

"Well, aren't you going to leave? If you think S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the way, you should probably leave."

"Ah, you see, my dear, you misunderstand my motives. I have no intention of leaving, and , unless me ears are mistaken, I hear the sound of an approaching brigade of your Midgardian transportation approaching."

And, indeed, only seconds later, Coulson and thirty other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents burst into the room, guns trained on the man in armor behind her. He rolled his eyes and said,

"Oh honestly. Do you really think that, if I didn't want to be caught, I would still be here?"

Coulson blinked, clearly surprised that Loki was still there, but approached him and put him in massive strange looking handcuffs. They looked as if they were specially designed just for him, and yet he took them without complaint. He looked at Vivian, and smiled at her in his arrogant, self-satisfied way and bent down, took one of her hands, and brushed it to his lips,

"Thank you, Vivian. You have been more helpful than you can possibly know."

He looked back at her as he was led away to the black cars, accompanied by six S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, a tall pale man in a horned helmet, with a look that clearly said _I'm better than all of you_.

Coulson turned to her, and said, calmly,

"Thank you for your cooperation, Vivian. We will be in touch and will remove all of our equipment from your home and place of work within the next few days."

"T-thank you, Coulson."

He nodded to her, and walked back to the last black SUV. As it pulled out of sight, she turned back to her now empty house. She sank down to the floor, in utter shock at what had just happened. _Would this ever end?_

She sat there for a while, contemplating what had happened to her, and trying to sort out the chaos in her own head. She had never wanted this. She had always dreamed about being in fantastic adventures, always wanted to be a character in a novel, but she never thought she would be the damsel in distress that was tig-tagged by the bad guy. The one that had to rely on the help of others to take care of herself. She had always wanted to be the heroic one, that saved everyone, that was admired. She hated feeling dependent and useless. It wasn't who she was, or what she wanted.

She took a deep breath, knowing that she was wallowing in self-pity, but she felt she had earned at least a little of that, after all she had been through.

She was distracted from her pity party when she heard her dogs scratching at the door that she had closed when he had knocked on the door. She got up to let them explore the now scent-riddled house, and vowed not to let herself think about the events of tonight, she had enough to worry about.

* * *

As Loki rode in the black cars with all the pathetic S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, he could not help but smile. His plan had worked, and he was on his way to Stark Tower and the Tesseract. He could sense the eyes of every one of the Midgardians upon him, and he knew that they were shocked both by his cooperation and how he had behaved towards her. He couldn't help himself, he had had to touch her, even if it was as simple as kissing her hand. Yet, that didn't matter now, nothing mattered except finding his way to the Tesseract. Yet, if that was the case, why was she all he could see in his mind?

* * *

**Please give me your thoughts! I know I mainly focused on Vivian in this chapter, but the story is going to change a lot in chapters to come! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you all so much for your continued support of the story! I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

A Change Ch 7

Ah. They had a nice cage for him to stay in in Stark Tower. They all seemed sure that it would keep him at bay, away from the Tesseract.

_Foolish Midagrdians_, he thought, smirking, _They cannot merely hold in a god with their puny technologies_.

He was confident that he could get out of their clear, thick glass cage relatively easily. As the various S.H.I.E.L.D. agents scuttled around the large, white room like so many insects, he thought of how best to escape this annoyingly bright cage and find the Tesseract. First, he had to wait until the room was clear. He could obviously not break out of the room when it was full of people. He could kill them all relatively easily, yet they would no doubt use their communication devices to call for back up before he could kill them all. He would have to wait until no one would suspect him of breaking out, he would have to lull them into a false sense of security, and then strike when they least expected it. He was most certainly going to be under constant supervision by their observation devices, but he could conceal himself well enough. He would just have to be patient.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents left the room after they were certain that he would not escape. He didn't have much time to start planning his own escape when Nicolas Fury and the rest of the motley Avengers entered the room. His brother was among the group, and he surveyed Thor with a raised eyebrow. His brother looked at him, and smiled hopefully. He scoffed slightly and rolled his eyes, turning his gaze to Fury. His gaze was penetrating, and it was clear he was angry, but from what he knew about Fury, he was always angry. He surveyed Fury with an eyebrow raised which only made the man more angry.

"Loki. How does it feel to be captured?"

"It's very nice here, thank you."

Agent Romanoff, who was standing directly behind Fury, approached him in the cage and said,

"Where is Agent Barton?"

Her voice was dangerous and venomous. She was clearly not a woman to be trifled with, but that would not stop him. He watched her expression of well-hidden concern for her "partner." He would deal with her later. He had a plan to manipulate her love of the hawk, and this would help get him out of Stark Tower.

"I am not likely to tell you the whereabouts of my favorite servant, now am I, Agent Romanoff?"

"He was ours first," cut in Tony Stark, leaning against a wall with a drink in his hand.

"Perhaps. But, what is the Midgardian phrase, 'Finders keepers.'"

"You have enslaved one of the best men for us, and the loss of his freedom will cost you dearly," exclaimed the Captain, looking angrily at him. He was trying to appear ferocious and courageous, but he looked like a puppy baring its teeth for the first time. In other words, completely harmless.

"Your words are nothing to me," he said, voice dripping with arrogance. They all looked at him, some angry, some curious, all weary. He preferred it this way. He needed no one, and once he was out of this cage, he would have everything he wanted.

Fury stared at him again and said,

"Would you care to explain why you came so willingly with our agents? After all, you haven't been very cooperative with. It was rather surprising when I got a call stating they had you in custody. Why?"

"Oh, but that would spoil all the fun and surprise, and we wouldn't want that now would we?"

Fury's lip curled angrily, and he turned and left the room, accompanied by the Avengers. Thor looked back at him, with a mingled expression of longing and sorrow on his face. He had seen his brother make that face many times before. It was his favorite to use whenever he had gotten in trouble as a child. That face had gotten Thor out of trouble for years. It didn't work on him, though. His brother's antics had never worked on him.

He looked around the room, sat down on the seat that was in the cage. He needed to focus on getting out of here with the Tesseract. He had to keep his mind away from distractions.

The Avengers watched Loki on the cameras in the room where he was kept. Fury was still fuming that he wouldn't cooperate, and Natasha was furious about what he had said to her about Clint. Thor was sitting with his head in his hands, clearly distraught that his brother was still treating him as if they had never met. It had been hard for him to accept that he and Loki were not blood relatives, and even harder when he had had to fight his own brother.

Tony was still leaning against the wall, sipping his drink, and watching the sad-looking group around the table.

"Well, at least we have him," said Banner, trying to look on the bright side of the situation.

"But that doesn't mean he'll talk," said Natasha, "We have to use something to get to him."

"Nothing will get to Loki. He's always been unshakeable," said Thor, looking around at the group hopelessly.

"There is one thing that could get to him," said Natasha, looking around the group, "We could use the girl that he has used twice. He obviously has some kind of attachment to her, or he wouldn't have gone back to her house. If we can get her here, we can use her to get him to talk."

"It's a long shot, spider-girl. How do we even know that he is attached to her?" asked Tony, throwing back the rest of his scotch.

"It's worth a shot," said Banner, looking around, "We can't just take her though, we have to at least ask her before we move her here."

"Is it decided then?" asked Fury, looking around, "We get the girl to come here and try to get Loki to talk because of her."

They all nodded in ascent.

"Very well, I'll send some agents to go collect her."

**So, what do you guys think? I know there was no Vivian in this chapter, but she'll be back next time! I moved the cage Loki was held in in Avengers to Stark Tower because it would be harder to set a story in a moving aircraft carrier! Please review!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello again! So sorry for the delay of this chapter, but soon I'll have much more time to write! Hope you enjoy, and thank you for your continued support!**

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A Change Ch 8

The days following Loki's capture were peaceful for Vivian. S.H.I.E.L.D. came and took away their cameras and microphones, and she went about he daily life as if the entire incident had never happened. She was hopeful that she would, in time, forget the whole thing.

Yet, even though she was happy that the ordeal was over, she could not help but dwell on the man that had caused it. He was so mysterious, so strange, so arrogant, she had never known anyone like him. Clearly he was dangerous, or S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't have tried so hard to catch him. She had seen his antics on the news, but she had never thought he would come after her. Who was she to him, anyway? Why was she so interesting to a crazy mass murderer? That was what he was, right? He was unhinged, mad, insane. But there was something to him that said otherwise. He hadn't acted crazy when he came to her house. He had been polite, and had not tried to hurt her in any way. This was what puzzled her about the whole thing.

She tried not to dwell on him, though, and went about her life as though nothing had ever changed. Some part of her knew that this couldn't last, however. Only a few days after Loki had been taken away, Vivian was leaving work and on her way home, when she thought she saw a black SUV following her. When she sped up, it sped up, and when she slowed down, it slowed down. She tried to ignore it, hoping it would go away, but pulled her pepper spray out of her purse next to her, just in case. She drove home, and the car followed her up the road. She had read that you weren't actually supposed to go home if you suspected you were being followed. But she had always thought that the person following her would not suspect that five dogs were waiting for them at her home, two of which were pit bulls. She pulled into her driveway, and ran into the yard. The dogs greeted her briefly, and then went to explore the new car, which had indeed followed her to her house. She had the pepper spray in her hand and was ready to use it, when the most unlikely people stepped out of the car.

There were Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, and Agent Coulson, all standing in front of her, almost expectantly. She almost dropped the pepper spray in shock.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"We'll debrief you on the way, Ms. Newman. We'll need you to pack some things, but only the necessary, your animals and everything else will be taken care of."

"And what makes you think I'll just blindly get into the car with a bunch of people I don't know? I don't even know where I'm going, or what will happen to my job, let alone my animals! Why should I listen to you?"

"We're very persuasive, Ms. Newman. If you won't get into the car willingly, we will make you."

"Oh, _that's_ going to help persuade me."

"Let's just say it's a matter of national security that you come with us."

She looked around at her home, at her animals, at everything she knew, and part of her knew that it was beyond stupid to get into the car with these people, without even knowing why she was going. But another part of her longed to know what the whole thing was about. She also wanted to have an adventure of some kind, the kind that she had only ever read about, and this adventure was staring her in the face. She looked at the three people in front of her, and nodded, turning back to the house. She packed her toothbrush, a few changes of clothes, her laptop, her purse, and a phone charger in her bag, and ran out to the car.

She tried to hold back her tears as she said goodbye to her animals, but she was assured by Coulson that they were to be well provided for in her absence. She got into the back seat of the SUV, and watched her house disappear out of sight, and wondering to herself what she had just gotten herself into.

* * *

Loki plotted for several days on how best to escape this infernal cage and obtain the Tesseract. In many ways, the Midgardians had successfully limited his magic, but they had not stopped it completely. The only thing that was stopping him from blasting his prison to pieces was that he was constantly monitored by at least one of the Avengers. He knew he could not defeat them all, but he wanted so badly to get out of the cage and get what he had come for. Even more than that, he wanted to defeat Thor. His brother often watched him, and while he tried to get him to talk, Loki would not comply. Thor told him all about what had happened since he had left Asgard, most of which was meaningless waffle, but he did understand that Odin had become increasingly weak since he had destroyed the Bifrost. It was encouraging to know that the AllFather was not invincible, and that, when he had the Tesseract, he would be able to easily overcome the AllFather when he attempted to stop him from taking over Midgard.

Only a few days after he had been put in Stark Tower, Fury came in with the usual angry look on his face to talk to him. These conversations never lasted very long, because he was not willing to cooperate with the Midgardians, and this frustrated Fury to no end.

"Well Loki, I think we've found a way to make you talk."

"I doubt that very much, Fury. As I said, I do not want to spoil the surprises I have in store for you."

"We'll see about that," he nodded at a guard by the door and said, "Bring her in."

A second later, there she was, walking proudly into the room, as though she owned the place, and staring directly at him. He was careful not to change expression, though his insides felt as though they were shriveling. How did they discover this weakness? Of course, he had not been very discreet, but he had not thought that they would put two and two together. They were only Midgardians, after all.

Fury said nothing else, but gestured for all the people in the room to follow him out. They were left alone.

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**So, what did you guys think? I know I left it at a bit of a cliff-hanger, but what's a story without one now and again? Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I've been a terrible writer once again and haven't updated in a long time. I'm sorry guys! I've had a huge project recently that's made it hard to find time to write. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and please keep reviewing!**

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A Change Ch 9

She stared at the man in the glass cage. He was looking nonchalant, even at ease, despite the fact that he had been caught. He gave her a strange half-smile and said,

"So this is how they would persuade me, is it? Using a Midgardian I had seen before as…what shall we say? Bait?"

He leaned against the frame of the cage and eyed her. She eyed him right back, and took in his full appearance for the first time. He was wearing his customary black jacket, but the spear and rather impressive helmet were missing. He was pale, much more than she had previously thought, and his black hair was shoulder length. His eyes were so green they were almost off-putting, and they gave her the inexplicable urge to trust him once again.

Both Couslon and Agent Romanoff had told her that she should stand at all times and never for an instant let her guard down with Loki. She was tasked with finding out why he had come so willingly with them and what his plans were for the Tesseract. But first, Vivian had a few questions of her own, and she was not prepared to wait to ask them.

She approached the cage, trying not to look too nervous. His arrogance was unnerving.

"Well, Midgardian? What do you have to say to me?"

"Why did you take me?"

It looked as if these words stung him in some way, but she couldn't think why. He eyed her again and said, coolly,

"Because you were my one chance of escape. Had I continued to fight, it would not have worked out so well for me. You Midgardians are so easy to manipulate that a hostage situation would work to my advantage."

"If you wanted to escape, you did a pretty poor job at it," Vivian observed. She was used to his kind of sarcastic language, she spoke this way to her closest friends all the time. She supposed this was an advantage that she could keep up with his sarcasm, but she had also been warned that he could spin the most convincing lie within seconds. Not for nothing was he called the god of mischief.

"Perhaps," said Loki, raising an eyebrow.

_He seems to be a man of few words_, thought Vivian, sighing inwardly. It wasn't going to be easy to get information from him. Why was she being asked to get information out of him anyway? Surely some expert in god-language or something would do a much better job than her. She shook herself out of these thoughts, and tried to concentrate on her task.

"Speaking of your capture, why were you so eager to come here? Not the best place to plot, if you ask me."

"Well, nobody asked you, did they?" he said, "Whatever information you have been told to get out of me, it will not work. Perhaps you do not think me as clever as I am, but if you have spoken to my brainless brother at all, you will know that I can easily tell when someone wants information, or is lying to me."

"Fine then," she said, turning on her heel, desperate to get out of the room and discuss some kind of strategy with someone. She wasn't ready to handle Loki quite yet…if ever. She reached to door, and was walking out of the room when she heard a faint, almost inaudible,

"Goodbye Vivian."

She whipped around, but the door had already slid closed, and she was only able to meet his gaze through the small slit of glass. He still looked arrogant, but his eyes were full of a sadness that she had not noticed before and made her heart ache for him.

* * *

Loki paced the cage. Though he kept his face a smooth mask, for he knew he was being watched, but his insides were churning with a million different emotions. Anger that they had discovered his weakness, shame that he had let them know what his weakness was, sadness that he would never really know her, and happiness that he could see her again at all. All these feelings bounced around inside him, and he thought of their conversation over and over again.

S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers were using her to their advantage. They were thinking he would break if she questioned him instead one of their own. He was not so shallow and weak as to fall for that, but it was a blow to him all the same. It would mess up his concentration, to say the least. He knew they were not done with him either. They would continue pestering him, like so many insects, for his reasoning behind being captured. Not that he would ever give it up. Ever.

His thoughts strayed back to her. He had only let his guard down in those final seconds, where he let his emotions out, for once in his life. He had thought he had been too quiet to hear, but the way she looked at him through the glass said otherwise. How could he have been so stupid as to let her hear? What was happening to him? He had to keep his calm. None of them must ever know…

* * *

All of the Avengers and Vivian were sitting in Tony's plush living room in Stark Tower. They had all watched the conversation as it had happened, but none of them understood why Vivian seemed so changed when she returned. Loki had said nothing offensive or hurtful to her, he had not even threatened her. Yet she was sitting on a couch clutching a Diet Dr. Pepper and staring at the floor, lost in her own thoughts.

Rogers sat down next to her, and asked her,

"What did he say to you, ma'am?"

Vivian jumped, not only at being addressed by the face of America, but also at being called "ma'am."

"You can call me Vivian," she said, looking curiously at him. She had to admit, he could even make sweatpants look attractive.

"Then you can call me Steve," he said, smiling, "You've met everyone, right? This is doctor Bruce Banner."

He gestured to a nondescript looking man who smiled at her.

"You've met Tony, Natasha, and Coulson. Which leaves…"

He broke off looking at the enormous blond man next to Stark.

"I am Thor Odinson," said the man, nodding to her.

"So you're-"

"Loki's brother, yes."

They stared at each other. She couldn't see how the two could be more different. Loki was quick, lithe, dark haired, and fair skinned. Thor was buff, light haired, and had the tan of a Californian. She studied him, looking for some trace of his brother in him, but there was none. He seemed to smile easily, which Loki did not. She was puzzled at how different the sibling were until Thor said,

"You will, no doubt, know that I am not truly related to Loki. We were raised together, and he is my brother in every way but in blood. But the fact that he is not Asgardian has caused him to turn into what he is."

"What is he, if he's not…Asgardian?"

"He is what my people call Frost Giants. They are from the realm called Jotunheim, and they are the enemies of my people."

Vivian thought back to the look he had given her, and that look made more sense now that she knew his struggle. She tried to shake that look out of her head by asking,

"So, what should I do? I know I'm here to get information out of him, but how exactly do I do that? I don't know anything about him."

"We can work out a strategy," said Romanoff, quickly, "He's not going anywhere."

The next few days Vivian spent learning all she could about Loki. She studied him on the screens in Tony and Banner's lab. He didn't do much, but she learned his mannerisms and how he interacted with others. Only Thor had gone to visit him after Vivian, and Loki had spent most of that conversations insulting his brother or spitting threats at him.

Thor was like a puppy however: no matter how many times he was kicked, he always continued to be loving. It was clear that he was not going to give up on his brother, and Vivian admired him for this.

She had acclimated fairly well to life in Stark Tower. The room she had been given was probably bigger than her whole house, and life with four men was certainly a lot more noisy than she was used to. Yet, she liked it all the same. She had become especially close to Steve, who was sweet and concerned about everything. Romanoff mostly stuck to herself, and Tony and Bruce were mostly in their lab. It was fun to show Thor things on earth that he had never seen, but he was often gone visiting Jane Foster.

She and Steve spent more and more time together, and she had asked him if he would accompany her to he next meeting with Loki. She wanted someone friendly there, even if they were only waiting outside the door. He had happily agreed, and when she set off for his prison two days later, she felt considerably more at ease than she had previously.

* * *

**The end of another chapter! I'm not sure when I'll post next, but I'll try to make it soon! Please review!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello again! Thank you all so much for all the support of the story! Please keep reviewing!**

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A Change Ch 10

She walked into the room, looking cold and distant. _Taught by the spy, no doubt_, he thought, rather bitterly. She looked so different with that cold expression on her face. She looked at him, eyebrows raised, and he stared back. The silence stretched longer and longer between them. They merely stared at each other, each one sizing the other up. She seemed more prepared to deal with him than before, and this was exciting to him. She was a worthy opponent, he had known that from the moment he met her. No one else on this ridiculous realm could keep up with him, except perhaps Stark.

This was certainly going to be interesting, he had had hardly any visitors since he had arrived and settled into his wonderful new room. Thor had, of course, lost no time in visiting him, and had greeted him happily, even though he was trapped in a cage, and had tried to destroy the realm Thor so loved. He had to give his brother credit, he would not give up. He babbled endlessly about the goings on in Asgard, and how they had _missed_ him so much. _Missed him_, oh that was likely. Thor was never able to see people's true feelings. He knew how much they had all hated him on Asgard. Except perhaps Thor himself and his mother, they had cared for him, but the others?

He shook himself out of these unpleasant thoughts as she approached his cage once again. She was, apparently, not going to be the one to break the silence.

"Well, get on with it. What do you want this time?" he said, trying to break her façade of coldness. She looked at him quizzically and replied, smoothly, in a voice that he could tell was not hers. It was different, not just colder, but somehow changed in tone, perhaps to subtle for other to catch, but not to the god of mischief and lies. She was hiding from him. This was wise, but it hurt him.

"I need to know where Agent Barton is."

He smiled, not bothering to hide it from her. This was perfect. So perfect. They were all, no doubt, listening.

"He is closer than you think," he said, and then heard the telltale sign of an explosion coming from an upper floor of the skyscraper, "In fact, I think that's him now."

She looked at him, fear clouding her whole face. The charade was gone, there was nothing but her fear. He smiled again, emboldened by the fact that they were alone, as the Avengers would have gone to try and capture Barton.

"Well now. Perhaps you would like to release me? I'll be out of your hair soon in any case, but being out of here a little early wouldn't hurt anyone, now would it?"

Her fear was changed to anger in a second. She approached the cage and stood in front of him, short, fierce, and…beautiful.

"Why? Why would you do this?"

"Oh honestly, I have better things to do than sit here. You should have seen this coming a mile away."

"Pardon me for trusting you."

"Is this trust?" he gestured at the cage, "If so, you Midgardians have a strange way of showing trust."

"You would have gotten the Tesseract in a second if we hadn't."

"Indeed. Well, if you are not intending to let me out, are you going to go help your precious team? They probably need all the help that they can get."

"Why are you so desperate to prove yourself better than him?"

This question floored him. How did she know that? Did Thor tell her? Why would she ask him that?

"You have no idea of what I have gone through, Midgardian. I am the worthy one. I am a god. I am more than you can ever understand."

"I just see someone who wants to be better than their brother. I've been there. It's not always about being better than them, whether it's your brother or your friends. You can figure out that you're good in your own way."

"What do you know of my struggles? I am a god-"

"It's funny how you keep saying that," she interrupted, "But for all your 'godliness,' you seem to have many of the same problems humans do. I'm not sure how destroying earth will solve them, but you're certainly having a good try."

He was utterly lost for words. How could she understand him so thoroughly without even knowing him? How did she know who he was? He had never revealed these feelings to anyone.

Several moments passed in silence. She was still staring at him. Then, without warning, Stark, Banner, Thor, and Captain America all burst into the room. He knew at that moment, that his cause was lost, and that Barton was dead or captured, or possibly even freed from his capture. Yet he couldn't find it in himself to care. He could not look at her, he could not face her, not when she knew everything.

"Well Loki," said Stark, approaching the side of the cage, "It looks like you've been busy while you've been in here. Thanks for giving me some extra work to do on the tower, I'll send you a bill in due course."

He did not answer. He was in no mood to deal with Stark at this moment. He wished only to be left alone with his thoughts, so that he might gather them and appear his usual self once more.

"Fury won't like this, you know. He might move you to another, less comfortable home than you've been crashing in so far," said Stark, continuing.

"Perhaps he will, Stark, but as you have, no doubt, already captured my secret weapon, I do not think that that is really necessary. Yet, you will do as you please."

"Why, brother?" said Thor, stepping forward, and looking absolutely heartbroken.

"For some reason, I was not all that content to stay in here forever, so I attempted to make my escape. Clearly, it did not work."

They all stared at him in disbelief. All of them, except Vivian. She was looking at him with a knowing expression on her face.

The Captain took her gently by the arm and said something too low for him to hear. He felt his eyes narrowing at the sight, and felt the urge to rip the man limb from limb._ Pull yourself together_, he told himself, bitterly. He looked back at them, and she was already halfway to the door. In the doorway, she looked back, and raised an eyebrow at him, that made him almost laugh aloud. Almost.

* * *

**Ok, so to head off the questions: Vivian is one of those people that can just tell what others are feeling and read their emotions like a book, even one was good at hiding them as Loki. I hope you enjoyed, please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello everyone! Thank you for the continued support of the story! I should have more time to write now, so updates shouldn't be so few and far between. Enjoy and please review!**

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A Change Ch 11

Vivian was battling with herself. She couldn't decide whether to tell the rest of them what she had found out, or keep it to herself. It seemed so personal, so terrible for her to admit what she had inferred, yet she felt that it was necessary.

Steve was speaking rapidly beside her, and she tried to make herself listen.

"Barton was the one that shot the arrow. We have him now. Natasha hit him really hard in the head, she said it would fix whatever Loki did to him. I'm sorry that I had to leave, but, the building did explode…"

She laughed. It sounded hollow to her, but he seemed to accept it. They went into the bachelor pad living room to find a massive hole blown in the side of the wall. Barton had done his job well. No one else was in the room, so Vivian sat down on the couch and buried her face in her hands. She had always prided herself on being able to read other people, but she had never seen anyone who had suffered as Loki had. It was shocking to see the pain in his eyes, pain that she had been too blind to notice before. It seemed so clear why he was doing what he was doing: to cause his brother some of the pain that he had been feeling, for what seemed to be a long time.

Steve looked over at her, and sat down next to her, putting a comforting arm around her shoulder,

"What did he say to you?"

"He didn't say anything. I'm just- I don't know. I sort of feel bad for him."

Steve, who thought that any enemy of America was unworthy of any sort of attention, looked flabbergasted.

"But why? He's done nothing but hurt people since he arrived here. Why would you feel bad for him?"

She shook her head, not wanting to tell him the real reason. Steve watched her a few seconds, but before he could say anything else, Bruce and Tony walked in. Tony immediately went to pour a drink, but Banner sat down on one of the couches next to them and said, without preamble,

"Well, I guess we don't have to ask if you found out how he was going to try and get the Tesseract…"

She smiled ruefully at him and said,

"I suppose not."

"Did you find out anything good? Anything we can use against him?" asked Tony, blissfully unaware of how terrible the question sounded.

She looked at them, debating whether or not to tell them. She knew it would give them ideas on how to break him, and that was supposed to be in their best interest. But she didn't want to break him. And besides, what she had inferred was just guessing, how did she really know that that was the reason he had done all he had done. She told herself this, knowing, deep down, that her musings and guessing were correct.

"No," she said, not looking at any of them, not wanting to give herself away.

"Damn," said Tony, throwing back his scotch, "You too scared to go back in there again?"

She narrowed her eyes and drew herself up,

"No. I can go back. Name the day, Stark."

He grinned and said,

"Excellent."

Natasha walked in at that moment. She looked around at them and said,

"He'll be alright. Fury's sending a doctor from S.H.I.E.L.D to look at him, but he thinks I hit him hard enough to knock Loki straight out of him."

"I'm glad, Natasha," said Banner, a little too knowingly. She ignored him and went to the bar, and poured a drink.

"Hey, hey! That's my liquor, Spider-Girl," said Tony, getting up from his seat and going towards her.

"Unless you want a dislocated arm and that thing out of your chest and off the edge of the building, I wouldn't come any closer," she said, calmly. Tony was wise enough to back off, and sat back on the couch, grumbling about the loss of his alcohol.

"Where's Thor?" asked Natasha, looking around for the god.

"Still with Loki. He was trying to get him to talk when we left, but there was no getting a word out of him," said Banner, looking at Vivian.

She still avoided his gaze, and looked at the massive hole in the side of the tower wall. It must have been one of Barton's exploding arrows that she had heard so much about.

"How many were with Barton?"

"Oh, only a few. It seems Loki thought that we would be easy enough to overcome. Maybe he thought Clint could beat us all. He was wrong."

Thor came in at that moment, looking defeated.

"Anything out of the deer?" asked Tony, looking at Thor.

"Nothing. Loki refuses to speak to me. He said nothing. No matter what I said to him, I could not break his silence."

He collapsed onto the couch as well, causing it to creak under his massive body.

"Well, maybe he'll talk when we send her back in there," said Tony, gesturing at Vivian.

"I want to see what Clint has to say first," said Natasha, standing behind the couch, "He might know something of Loki's plans that we don't."

They all nodded in ascent, and looked around, surprised at what a turn events had taken in only a few short hours.

* * *

Clint was struggling to get out of Loki's grasp. He felt like he was playing tug-of-war with his brain. He heard Tasha's voice near at hand. He wrestled with the urge to grasp her throat. _That's not you, Barton_, he told himself, _that's not you. That's Loki. It's Tasha. _

He heard her voice from far away,

"Clint. It's going to be alright?"

_How could she say that? Not when Loki was captured, nothing could ever be right. But, Loki was the one who had taken him over. He didn't need him anymore…_

He felt like he was coming out of deep water. His head was clear and totally his own. Natasha was sitting next to him, and his wrists were tied down to a bed. He looked around. The room was bare and small. But he could see it, actually see it.

"Natasha," he said. The name tasted like a breath of life. She looked the same as always. Unsmiling, rigid, tough.

"How're you feeling?"

"How-how'd you get him out?"

She smiled slightly.

"I hit you really hard on the head."

"Thanks. Did he get away?"

"No, we've still got him."

"That's one good thing," he muttered.

Natasha got up, and headed towards the door, without a word. He was used to it, but it hurt all the same.

"Where are you going?"

"You need rest Clint. I'll come back, but you need to sleep."

He sat there, wondering how much damage he had done when Loki had had his mind.

* * *

**Well, what did you guys think? Obviously, Hawkeye is going to be a more important character than before, and there will be some mild Clintasha in the chapters to come. Please review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Thank you all for the continued support of the story, it means so much to me! Enjoy!**

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A Change Ch 12

"I don't want any of you listening next time I go in there."

"What!" exclaimed Steve, looking shocked and angry, "We have to listen! How else are we going to know if he tries to…bewitch you or something."

"He cannot do that, not without some tool, such as the spear, to connect with her," said Thor, looking almost despairingly at Steve's lack of Asgardian knowledge.

"I agree with Vivian," he continued, looking around at them all, "If I know my brother, he will be more likely to talk if there is only one other listening to him. I know that it makes him uneasy to think that all can hear him, especially when he cannot see them."

"It's dangerous," said Clint, looking from Vivian to Natasha, who was standing next to him, "We all know what he's capable of, and I don't want to be the one to have to take her down when he gets into her mind."

"As I said, he cannot get into her mind without something physical. Mind control is not as you write it, it is a delicate and complicated process, that takes enormous skill, but it cannot be done if there is no tool or physical contact. It is not possible."

"I can handle him," said Vivian, confidently, "I know I can. There's no need to fear."

"Do you think it'll make him talk?" asked Tony.

"I do."

"Then I'm all for it. When do you want to do it?"

"Now."

* * *

He had been expecting her. Of course she was going to appear again. She had to find out if he had any more plans for the Tesseract.

She did not enter with others, and did not have the cold and distant look that she had had before. She seemed to look upon him in a new light, and he wasn't sure whether he liked it or not. She knew too much already, and the look she was giving him confirmed that. He had never felt so vulnerable. Never.

Part of him knew the game was up, that he had no chance of getting the Tesseract. But he couldn't afford to give in. His freedom and well-being depended on it. Though part of him wanted to fall to his knees and confess all the anger and fear and pain in his heart, the other part told him that that was not the way to escape the Chitauri. Yet, he was no longer willing to listen to that part of himself. He knew he had to tell someone. And why not her? She already knew more than anyone had ever guessed about him.

"Well, shall we get on with it?" he said, more confidently than he felt.

"I just wanted to tell you, that they aren't listening. It's just you and me."

He inclined his head, trying to hide his surprise.

"Indeed?"

"Yes," she said, and sat down on the floor. He sank down as well. They faced each other, on this new level, and it very nearly broke him.

"I'm just here to talk to you."

"Ah, is that so? You want nothing from me? Nothing at all? You want no information? You do not want to know my next move? I am smarter than that, surely you must know. I do not trust easily, either."

"I know that," she said, looking at him steadily, "Why?"

"That is none of your business."

"But I've already guessed a good amount. Why don't you just fill in the rest?"

"Because that would be my undoing. Not only because you would pass it on to the rest, but also because I myself cannot face what I have done, or who I am."

These words burst forth from him, unwillingly. He had never made that confession to anyone. She did not look triumphant, however, or pleased, she merely surveyed him in a way that showed more understanding than he would have liked.

"Why must you look at me that way?"

"What way?"

"That way that looks into me, that seems to know how I am feeling. It is most unnerving."

She stared at him, looking shocked at this confession. Then, she half-smiled and looked at the floor, embarrassedly and said,

"I didn't mean to."

An awkward silence descended upon them. He had always prided himself in being able to create words for any occasion. He could spin lies better than anyone, and he knew it. It was what had gotten him so far in his plot to take over Midgard. His words had gotten him and Thor out of trouble countless times during their childhood. Yet, now, he could not find the words to combat what he was feeling, or to say anything to her. Then, he decided, then and there, that there was no point hiding anymore. He didn't care if they were listening, he had to tell someone, anyone.

"Well, perhaps I shall indulge you," he said, with far more confidence than he felt. He had never opened up to anyone, save his mother. He had learned long ago that anything one said could be held against them later. She looked at him, and then gave him the first, full smile he had ever seen her wear. It gave him the courage to go on.

"The Chitauri will try to kill me, now that I am imprisoned without any possibility of escape. Most unfortunately, my entire plan rested on Barton, who, of course, is no longer mine. They will come, take the Tesseract and kill me, or take me back to their planet for some of the innumerable tortures that they have so kindly offered to me in the past.

"The only way you can hope to stop them is to release me, take me to the Tesseract, and allow me to shut off any kind of connection that there might be between this realm and theirs. Although, they may already be on their way, in which case, I can prevent more of them coming through, but not those on their way."

"Why should I let you anywhere near the Tesseract?" "Because, I clearly have nothing to lose. I am also the only one who can understand how to control the Tesseract. Thor is not clever enough, and you Midgardians have no idea of that object's power. My magic and I are your only hope. And, honestly, do you believe me stupid enough to cause shenanigans right under the noses of the team that are not only my jailors, but also my potential saviors? No, I am not so foolish as that."

"I-I'll talk to the rest of them about it, and, we'll see…"

She got up and walked towards the door. Before she left it, she turned and said,

"Was I right?"

"About which part, my dear?" he asked, looking at her conspiratorially.

"All of it."

"Yes," he said, looking at her, "The good and the bad."

"Well, you have a chance to fix it. Maybe you should make the most of it."

"That I will."

She smiled at him, and left the room, leaving him with his jumbled feelings and strange sense of euphoria that he had rarely ever experienced.

* * *

"Are you insane? Allow him near the Tesseract? That's like putting a death sentence on this planet!" shouted Clint, pacing back and forth.

"What choice do we have?" she said, just as angrily. Vivian wasn't sure why she was defending Loki so diligently, but she had decided to trust him, and she would trust him, no matter what.

"I agree with her. Loki is the only one that has any sort of grasp on the Tesseract's power. If what he says is true, then this realm has little chance as it is. We are unprepared for an invasion of Chitauri. We must use any resource available-"

"Yeah, but he's basically asking for freedom," said Tony, looking between Vivian and Thor, "There's a difference between using resources and setting your prisoner free because he might be able to help you."

"Would you rather have to fight off all the Chitauri have to offer and let them get away with this top prisoner of yours?" said Vivian, regarding him with a raised eyebrow.

"Listen, all I'm saying is that we need to be careful. Whatever we do, we can't let him get the better of us, which he could easily do."

"I say, we put it to a vote," piped up Bruce looking around at them all, "Personally, I vote we let him do it. Thor can monitor him and make sure he doesn't do anything he would regret. It's our only chance of heading the Chitauri off."

"I vote no," said Tony, promptly.

"So do I," said Clint, glowering at them all.

"Me too," said Natasha.

"I vote yes," said Thor.

"And I think you all know my vote," said Vivian, staring at Tony and Clint angrily.

They all looked at Steve, who had remained silent. He looked around at them and said,

"I say we give it a try. If Thor thinks he can keep Loki under control, I don't see the harm in trying to stop the end of the world."

Vivian grinned triumphantly at Tony, who stomped off to get another drink.


	13. Chapter 13

**Thank you all again for your dedication to the story! Enjoy!**

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A Change Ch 13

They all came into the room, the entire team, no doubt to deliver his sentence. Contrary to what he knew many of them to believe, he was serious about helping them. He had no plans to seize the Tesseract now. It would involve hurting… well, it was just not possible in his current situation to take the Tesseract by force. It would do him no good to continue to try and get the Tesseract, he knew the Chitauri were impatient, and that they were, in all probability, already on their way. He did not want to experience the endless tortures they had in store for him by failing. Even though they had promised him there was no way he could escape, he would rather take his chances by having at least Thor on his side. He may be an idiot, but he could protect others, which was what he needed, at least right now.

She approached the cage and said,

"Well, we've decided to let you have one chance. If you can fix whatever's about to happen with the Chitauri, you get a full pardon from S.H.I.E.L.D."

He looked at her. How hard did she have to try to convince them to trust him? Judging by the looks on Stark's, Romanoff's, and Barton's faces, it had been a close call.

"Well then, perhaps you could let me out of here, so I can judge the situation…"

"We're not done yet, Reindeer Games," said Stark, regarding him suspiciously, "You're gonna be guarded every step of the way, just so you don't pull anything on us. Thor's going to be watching over you while you work."

He rolled his eyes. _Of course, it had to be Thor._

"Very well."

Stark pushed a few buttons on the control panel, and the door slid open. He walked out, savoring the fact that he could breath normal air once again. He looked around at them, taking in the suspicion and anger and many other emotions on their faces. Vivian looked both nervous and happy. What could that mean? He shook himself out of these thoughts, he had to focus on the task at hand. And yet… This was the first time he had really and truly been near her to take in her entire appearance. There was something about three feet of impenetrable glass that made it hard to really see someone.

Her eyes were more green than hazel, and her hair was longer than he had previously thought. She studied him just as he studied her, but he tried to avoid her eyes. He did this with everyone. The eyes were the easiest place for people to spot a lie. Lies can only really be detected in one's eyes. The sharing of eye contact was dangerous, especially for someone like him.

"Come, brother," said Thor, taking him genially by the arm, "Let us defeat the race of monsters that approach."

He did not feel like breaking Thor's spirit so early in the game, and allowed himself to be lead out of the room, towards this new, unknown task in front of him.

They headed towards the massive balcony outside of the tower. There was plenty of room for him to work there. Thor let go of his arm, and went to lean against a pillar. For once in his life, he was not talking, for which Loki was thankful.

He looked at the sky, and then back at Thor.

"We need the Tesseract. Now. They are much closer than I had previously thought."

At that moment, Stark walked in with the case that he had tried so hard to steal. He felt a pang of longing when he saw it. _There was still time_, he thought to himself, watching the Tesseract carefully, _I could grab it and run…_

But he knew that he really couldn't. he would not only fail to get away but also disappoint Vivian. And that was something he really didn't want to do. For all he had been through, for all he had suffered, no one understood him as she did. That was frightening, but also deeply satisfying, and comforting, in a way. He did not feel so alone with her around, even though she was nothing more than a Midgardian.

He made himself control these emotions long enough to take the case from Stark's hands. The Chitarui were on their way. He could tell. The Tesseract was already acting up. He could feel the small pulses of magic it was giving off, and knew they could only grow. What was he to do? He could let the portal open and allow the Chitauri already on their way to come through, but that made no guarantees that he could close it again. He essentially had one shot: allow the Chitauri to come through, and then use the infinitesimal gap between more of them setting out for Midgard to try and close the portal. He knew it was risky, but he had to do it. It was the only way to save Midgard, to save himself, and to save Vivian.

He looked over at Stark and said,

"You need to be prepared for some number of Chitauri to arrive. I cannot keep them all back. The ones that are on their way now, I have no way of stopping them. You must be prepared to fight at least a few of them."

"Can do, Reindeer Games. We'll be ready for them."

"Splendid."

Thor was recruited to help warn Fury about the impending alien invasion, leaving him alone. This was surprising, he had thought they didn't trust him enough to leave him alone. All he really had to do was wait for the Tesseract. He watched it, looking at its signs. It was close now. He looked back at the massive tower, and was surprised to see Vivian standing in the doorway.

"I would recommend you clear the line of fire, my dear. The Chitauri shan't be too pleased when they arrive to a fully prepared hostile force."

"I have a minute, don't I?"

"I suppose, if it is a very short minute."

She approached him, getting far closer than he would normally have liked. He regarded her slightly wearily, still not sure what to make of her. She merely smiled at his distrustful expression and, quite suddenly, hugged him. He stood there, not sure whether he should respond or not. Then, after a second, he wrapped his arms around her small frame and hugged her back. He couldn't remember the last time he had hugged a woman who was not his mother. This was strange. She was so small, so warm, and so, loving.

They broke apart after a minute and he looked down at her. She was beaming at him, looking overjoyed that he had touched her. She did stood on her toes and brushed a kiss on his cheek. Then she was gone.

He stared after her, rubbing the spot where she had kissed him. He looked after her, surprised by the tenacity and boldness of the little mortal. He turned back to the Tesseract, which was now signaling that the Chitauri were mere seconds away, glad that he had something worth fighting for.

* * *

She looked up at the darkening sky. The portal was opening. She saw figures coming from the sky. They had weapons and looked prepared for, well, war. She wanted to make herself useful, grab some sort of weapon to defend herself. She was not going to be that stupid damsel in distress type, oh no. She was going to go down in a blaze of damn glory. She sprinted to the gun room and grabbed the most intense looking one she could find. She had shot guns before, of course, but she had never really bothered to learn their names. She ran back towards the balcony to see Loki trying to close the hole he had just made. His entire body was glowing green, and he had his eyes closed. Thankfully, the Chitauri were ignoring him for the moment, clearly hell bent on getting to the rest of them on the street below.

_And once again, New York city will get the living crap beat out of it_, she thought, wryly. It was so classic, the city, the aliens, she felt like she was in _Independence Day_ or some other movie like that. Except, in those movies, the good guys didn't generally let the so-called bad guy do what he wanted to try and save them. But then, the Avengers weren't exactly normal.

She heard the telltale signs of battle from the street below, and looked quickly back at Loki. The green was fading, but his eyes were still closed, and she could tell the portal was still open. He had said he had only seconds…was it already too late? But then, there was a crack, and the hole closed immediately. The green light faded and Loki sank to his knees, gasping for breath. She tried to run to him, but before she could get there, three Chitauri ships had landed around him, and one of them had him by the neck.

"You have betrayed us," it hissed.

"Yes, I suppose I have."

"Thanos will not be pleased when he learns of this. If you think you have felt pain thus far, think again."

"Yeah, well, maybe you don't know pain either, big guy," said Tony, appearing off the side of the building, covered in black blood and looking furious. He shot all the Chitauri in quick succession, and then pulled the shaken Loki to his feet.

"I thank you, Stark."

"No problem. Is the thing closed?"

"Yes, no more should be getting through any time soon."

"Good. That was surprisingly easy. Everyone's got a few minor cuts and bruises, but nothing major."

"That is…excellent."

"You look tired, Reindeer Games. How about a drink?"

"Stark," he sighed, exasperated, "I have depleted most of my magic to save your world. Is a drink really the thing to solve my problems at this point?"

"There's _always _time for a drink, Reindeer Games."

She laughed slightly, looking down at the gun in her hands. Maybe, after all this, they could get back to some version of normal.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello again, dears! Thank you so much for continuing to support the story! This chapter ran a little long, my apologies!**

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A Change Ch 14

The next few weeks were quite busy for Vivian. Tony and the rest of the team seemed to adopt her as press secretary for the team, so it was down to her to deal with all the panic the Chitauri attack had left in the city. Of course, S.H.I.E.L.D. helped her a great deal, but she was good at calming people, so she talked to news reporters, citizens, and many, many more people about how the threat was taken care of by the Avengers.

She never mentioned Loki. She knew that the people would not take kindly to the man that had destroyed parts of America in his quest for the Tesseract. For the moment, she just acted like he didn't exist. The Avengers had stopped the Chitauri and plugged the hole single-handedly. To the public of the world, Loki Laufeyson was not a part of that team.

But on the inside of the Avengers Tower, it was a slightly different story. When she was not handing throngs of reporters, Vivian spent most of her time in the tower with the rest of them. It had taken Loki to acclimate to life on Earth, but he had done it fairly well. He would still look at things like reality television and mutter,

"Sometimes you Midgardians are so stupid."

Yet, for the most part, he seemed to grow accustomed to life in the tower. He sparred verbally constantly with Tony, Natasha, and Vivian, and often slapped Thor across the face when he was doing something Loki deemed too unsuitable for words.

Vivian spent more time with him than almost anyone else. He was restrained by two small wrist devices that Bruce and Tony had created, and it limited what he could do with his magic, and he wasn't allowed to leave the tower, but that didn't bother either of them.

They spent a great deal of time reading, because Tony had a magnificent library, one that mesmerized both the Asgardian and Midgardian alike. Vivian delighted in showing Loki new things to read. She showed him all her favorite poets, fiction authors, and nonfiction books. Loki immediately took to John Keats, _Lord of the Rings_, and any and all nonfiction he could get his hands on. They would spend whole days locked in the library together, hardly speaking, only coming out when Steve or Bruce made them.

They did speak to each other, though. Vivian told him all about the histories and myths that she knew, and some of her own past as well. He listened with fascination to the most trivial things, mystified by her life.

He didn't tell her much of his life, but she gleaned bits and pieces from expressions that he let on when he was talking about certain things. He always scowled when he was talking about Odin, his adoptive father, and smiled slightly when talking about Freya, his adoptive mother. He talked lovingly of the libraries of Asgard, but spoke distastefully of its inhabitants.

"If I was able to replace all of the inhabitants of Asgard with books, then the city would be a much better place," he had said one evening, as he read a large book about World War II.

"Why do you say that?" she asked, looking up from her own book.

"Because, books do not talk back," he said, rather sadly. She was smart enough not to pursue the subject, no matter how desperately she wanted to.

The Tower was full of the team popping in and out. Coulson tried to check in daily for Fury, who had grudgingly accepted the fact that Loki was, in fact, on their side. He had threatened the god with everything from deportation to disembowelment if anything went wrong in the tower. Loki had merely rolled his eyes and said nothing. All in all, everything was going quite smoothly.

One night, when the entire team was at the dinner table together (all Bruce's idea, of course), Tony looked up from his schwarma (of which he had grown rather fond) and said, to Vivian,

"What are you and Reindeer Games talking about down there?"

She looked up. They had been discussing some of the finer biological working of a horse. She opened her mouth, but Loki beat her to it,

"Is it really any of your business, Stark? We are hardly planning the destruction of your world, so never fear."

"Oh come on! I wanna be in the loop! If you're declaring your love for each other, just admit it!"

There was a pause. Steve, Clint, Natasha, and Bruce all looked stunned that Tony could have been so recklessly tactless. Thor, always the joker, laughed heartily and clapped Loki on the back genially,

"'Twas only a jest, brother! The man of iron does not know what he says!"

Vivian was looking daggers at Tony, who looked unashamed and threw back the rest of his drink.

"Oh come on, you guys need to learn to take a joke. You'd think I just said that your mothers all had terminal cancer."

Vivian realized at that moment that she was bright red, though she wasn't really sure why. She quickly excused herself and sprinted back to her room. She sat down on the bed, trying to avoid her own thoughts. She had done everything she could not to think of Loki as any more than a friend.

She had tried for weeks to ignore the way her blood rushed when they were together. She tried to ignore how witty he was, how much she appreciated his sarcasm. She tried to ignore how much she wanted to wrap her arms around him whenever he spoke of his life on Asgard. She knew what all these feelings, but she had never thought they were so obvious. If the tactless Tony Stark had noticed them, she was sure the rest of them had. That was embarrassing to think about, especially since that meant _Loki_ probably knew as well.

_Oh god._

* * *

Loki paced around his room. He had not seen her since that idiot Stark had made his stupid comment. He had been too foolish around her. Of course they all knew. His attentions had been far too marked to be missed by anyone, no matter how he deluded himself otherwise. Of course, that meant that she probably knew as well. She didn't want to see him, because she couldn't bear to tell him that she had no feelings in return. It had happened to him all too often. He had always been pushed aside for Thor. Rejection was nothing new. But this time, it hurt worse then it ever had on Asgard. He felt what was left of his heart shred itself at the thought that she would reject him.

He had to make his sentiments known, once and for all, come what may. He would go to her now. Fall to his knees, beg her to feel for him the way he did for her. For over the past few weeks, he had grown close to her, close enough to know that he liked her more than any woman he had ever met before, besides his own mother. He had come to realize that he loved her. This was not easy for him to accept, but he knew it was true.

He got up, intending to storm into her room and declare his love for her, when Thor entered the room.

"Thank you for knocking," he snapped.

"Brother…" began Thor, looking rather desperate.

"What is it, Thor? What do you want? I have things to attend to…"

"Loki, I have just received word from Father. He wants you back in Asgard to stand trial by tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" he felt as if all the air had gone from the room.

"Yes. He expects us both to be back in Asgard with the Tesseract. Howardson has already agreed and has already notified the S.H.I.E.L.D. Brother, I-"

"I understand," he interrupted, "We must be gone before she wakes, Thor, I cannot deal with that goodbye."

Thor looked devastated.

"But Loki-"

"But nothing. If you do nothing else for me, do this for me."

He looked at him, distress and sadness all over his face.

"Very well."

He left, leaving Loki with his own broken heart.

* * *

Vivian woke up the next morning, and headed to the kitchen in her pajamas. It was strange that no one was in there. With all of them in the tower, there was a least one hungry person digging around for Pop-Tarts or birdseed or whatever else they all ate.

She headed to the lab, hoping to find Tony there, and to give him the diatribe she had worked out the previous night. No one was there either. This was weird…

"JARVIS?"

"Yes Ms. Newman, how can I be of assistance?"

"Where is everyone?"

"They are going to see Mr. Odinson and Mr. Laufeyson off, I had thought you would be with them."

Fear gripped her. He was _leaving_? Without saying goodbye?

"Where did they go?"

JARVIS gave the address, and she sprinted back to her room and changed as fast as she could. The place was nearby, but she ordered one of Tony's cars all the same. They sped through the crowded streets, honking to get people out of their way. They reached the place in less than ten minutes, and she prayed that they had not already gone. She got out of the car and sprinted into a park, looking for that dark hair.

There he was. He was holding one end of the Tesseract, he was handcuffed, and he looked miserable. They seemed prepared to leave. In a desperate attempt to make him stay, she screamed his name. He looked up, and blank shock and then fear were in his face. Fear? Why fear?

She sprinted past the rest of the assembled team, and slammed into him, yelling that he wasn't getting away that easily and that this was a low blow and that she couldn't lose him like this. She realized she was crying, she looked up at him, and, without thinking about it, she kissed him.

He was frozen for a moment, shocked, then he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her gently off the ground. It was a moment that she wished could go on forever, yet all good things must come to an end. They broke apart, and she barely registered Tony laughing and Steve grinning in the background, she could only see him. He was smirking at her, as though to reprimand her for what she had done. It was all she could do not to slap him in the face.

"Why would you leave without even saying goodbye, you sick bastard!" she managed to choke out, trying to keep her expression angry.

"Because I could not bear parting with you. Especially on the terms we were parting at."

"What, you mean being awkward because of the stupid billionaire over there?"

"Precisely. I felt it better if we just leave things the way they were, instead of making them more complex."

"Well I just ruined that, didn't I?"

"I'm afraid so. Though," he smiled a little, "I am not sure that I mind."

"Yeah, me neither."

"I still must go. I have to answer for my crimes against Migard and Asgard alike. And I cannot promise that I will ever return to you. I do not know what my punishment will be."

She smiled a little ruefully.

"Well, we can't make things too easy, can we?"

"I suppose not. That being said, I do not expect you to wait for me. You must move on with your life. Do not allow my choices to influence yours."

"Well, I'll do my best."

"Please do. And do not forget to read, I shall expect many more book reviews if I ever return," he smiled, "Goodbye, Vivian. And, if I do not receive the chance to say it again, I love you."

She looked up at him, and hugged him tightly.

"I love you too, crazy Asgardian."

After a moment, they broke apart, and she stood back to allow him to go back. Steve hugged her from behind, both for comfort and to keep her from running forward.

Thor looked at Loki and, with a small nod, he twisted the contraption holding the Tesseract and, with a flash of light, they were gone.


	15. Chapter 15

**Here we are, another chapter! Enjoy!**

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A Change Ch 15

Without warning, they appeared in the palace of Asgard. Loki looked around with distaste. Nothing had changed. The hall remained as cold and magnificent as it had all of his life. There were guards waiting for him and Thor when they arrived. They were lead into the king's meeting room.

There was Odin, standing behind a high backed chair at the end of the table. At the sight of Thor, he smiled widely and embraced him. He narrowed his eyes at Loki, looking at him with such loathing that Loki wanted to look away or say something condescending. Yet he knew that he had to be polite and repentant at all times. If he was careful, he may be able to get back to earth, and to Vivian. If he was disrespectful to the Allfather, however, his chances of seeing her were less than none.

"I see you have brought back our prisoner, Thor. I hope he gave you no difficulties, even though he is nothing you cannot handle."

"No Father, he gave me no trouble."

"That's good. His sentencing will be in a few hours. I would suggest that you go and freshen up before it. You will want to look your best, after all, you are the one that captured him. Take him with you. Do not let him out of your sight, we do not want him to escape again, do we?"

Thor lead him down the hallways he knew so well. They passed no one on their way to their old adjoining chambers. They had kept these rooms since they were children. Sometimes, they would sneak into each other's rooms late at night and Thor would jabber on about the latest news in the kingdom while Loki read. Those days were so far away now. Thor got ready in silence. The hours seemed to slip by, it barely felt like two minutes before he and Thor were going to the throne room for his sentencing.

The throne room was full of people. They were all silent, but he could feel their looks burning him as he walked to the throne. They were the most harmless looking things he had seen. He wanted to laugh at them, to taunt them, but he knew better.

He kneeled before the throne where Odin was sitting, Freya by his side. He looked at her. She looked at though she had been crying. For an instant, he wanted to go and comfort her. She was the only one on this realm that had ever cared for him. The only one that had ever really paid attention to him.

Odin did not speak immediately, but went to sit down behind golden throne. Loki studied the expressions that marred his face. They were conflicted: pain, anger, sadness, and the ever-present disappointment. That emotion was one he had become used to over the years. Odin almost always wore it when they were together. All of his pride went to Thor, his true son. He had battled with the anger and shame that went with that expression for almost his whole life, and yet he knew he could not tell Odin about his feelings, not now. It did not really matter anyway. Not anymore.

"Loki Laufeyson," he said, his voice ringing through the room, "You have betrayed the trust and faith that this realm has put in you. You have disgraced your family. You have killed many innocent people in your never-ceasing quest for power. For your acts of atrocity, I sentence you to three weeks in the pit."

Whispers swept the hall. _Three weeks._ that was an unheard of amount of time to be in the pit. It was something that Odin rarely even used anymore. Many didn't survive it. He stared up at the Allfather's hardened face. Freya was crying openly, Thor was looking shocked and angry, and the rest of the crowd was muttering indistinctly.

He looked up at Odin and merely nodded and looked at the ground in acceptance. He knew it would be hard, but the fact that he had something to fight for gave him hope. He had made her a promise, a promise he intended to keep.

"Your sentence begins tomorrow at dawn. You may not stay in the palace."

"Yes, Allfather."

He was released from his handcuffs, and told that if he ran his punishment would be much worse. He left the hall, to many dirty looks from the Asgardians around him. He wandered through the streets, wondering where he was to go. He didn't have a friend left on this realm, except for perhaps Thor, little though he liked to think that way. Then, he remembered the one person that would possibly take him in, and he began to sprint through the streets.

* * *

Time moved more quickly on earth than it did on Asgard. They few hours that Loki was gone to him, was a few days for Vivian. In those few days, she made plans to return home. Tony had tried to convince her otherwise, but she had said,

"Tony, my animals need me. I would love to stay here, but they come first."

"What if you stayed on as a permanent part of the Avengers?"

"You can't make that call, and I'm still going to go back to my animals."

"What if they had a place to stay here?"

"Tony, this is a high-rise. What are you going to do to make it comfortable for five dogs to run around here? You wouldn't put up with them well."

"They don't call me a genius for nothing."

She rolled her eyes and said,

"Have it ready in a week. I'll be back by then. With my five dogs and three cats. If it's not ready, I'm going back to Texas."

Tony grinned and said,

"It'll be ready by then."

The day she left to go back to Texas, everyone came to see her off. They caused quite a commotion, all walking through the airport as though everything was normal, and all security had to essentially form a ring around them.

"Bye!" cried Tony, hugging her, "See you in a week. Your animals are going to love their new house!"

"They'd better."

Steve, Bruce, and Coulson all hugged her, and Natasha and Clint shook her hands. She turned around as she walked down the hall, giving them a last wave. As she turned away, she realized she was going to miss them more than she could say.


	16. Chapter 16

**Thank you all so much for the continued support of the story! As a note, I'll be away for two weeks starting on Friday, and won't have access to the internet. So this will either be the last or next to last chapter before the break. So I have not given up on the story! Enjoy!**

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A Change Ch 16

He hoped she hadn't moved. Not that anyone ever moved in Asgard. The place was completely and utterly unchanging. He knocked on the door, not quite sure what he was going to say.

She looked utterly shocked at his appearance.

"Loki?"

"Sigyn," he said, inclining his head.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, it's actually a rather interesting story…"

"You have nowhere to go because you've been banished from the palace, and you knew I was the only one who would take you in?" she asked, an eyebrow raised, omniscient as ever.

"Indeed."

"Well come in then," she stood back to let him pass.

Her house had not changed, even though it had been too long since he had visited her. He had had no friend as a child except for Thor and Sigyn. He and Sigyn had done everything together as children. They had learned magic together, they had gotten into all kinds of mischief together. As they grew older, they spent less time together than they had as children, but were still close friends. Only after Thor's botched coronation had they really split apart. He had been too busy trying to keep his crown to bother seeing anyone that was not his mother or father.

She looked at him, in the same way that she always had, there was no judgment, not too much anger, and no disappointment. She was the only one who had never been disappointed in him. He probably should have appreciated her more, spent more time with her, but his life had become so messed up in so many ways that he had never wanted to drag her into it.

"What have you done?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know what I mean. The crown? The throne? The attempted suicide, though I suspect that you knew that you were going to survive that fall. Why, Loki?"

This flippant questioning angered him. She had no right to know. None of them did. None of them knew his pain. He glared at her.

"I know that look. That is the 'everyone should feel sorry for me' look. May I point out that that look has not gotten you too far."

"Do you know what I am?"

"You're just the same as I am."

"No. No, I am not. It will not have been spread around, but I am not an Asgardian."

"Well not anymore, I'm sure, but-"

"You misunderstand me. I am not like you. Odin is not my father."

She looked puzzled.

"How do you-"

"Because he told me. Well, I figured it out, but he confirmed my suspicions," he shuddered, remembering that terrible scene, where he had discovered his true heritage, "I am not the son of Odin. I-I am the son of Laufey."

She stared at him.

"The king of the Frost Giants?"

"Indeed."

They stared at each other, the old friends, split apart by anger and betrayal and change.

"Do you expect me to think less of you, Loki?"

"I expect everyone to think less of me. What am I, but a monster? A monster that nearly destroyed two realms out of selfish pride."

"Do you feel remorse then?"

"I do not know what to feel."

They talked late into the night. They spoke of old things and new things. He purposely avoided mentioning his sentence. She would find out soon enough. She would be upset if she found out now.

"I notice you still live alone," he said, looking at her from across the small table between them.

"I suppose no one can handle me. You were the only one that ever could."

He swallowed and decided to ignore the implications of that statement. Of course, Sigyn did not know that he had Vivian waiting for him on Midgard. He almost brought up that they had indeed tried for something more than friendship many years ago, and that it had ended with a battle so intense that it should have killed them both.

He looked at Sigyn, with her green eyes and long black hair. He supposed that she was beautiful, but Vivian kept popping up in front of him. He could never feel that way for Sigyn.

He tried to change the subject, but she persisted with,

"I missed you, you know. When Thor said we grieved, we did. I thought you were dead, and I wasn't sure how I was going to go on."

"You would have found a way," he said, avoiding her gaze.

"I don't care. And you know, that I will be there for you whenever you finish your sentence. I will always be there for you, Loki."

"Sigyn. I'm sorry, but either way, it will not matter. My sentencing is three weeks with you, in the cave. And if I survive that and get my way, I will go back to Midgard, because- Well, I have found someone there, a mortal…"

Her eyes widened.

"Three _weeks_? Are you sure?"

"Of course, Sigyn. I am sorry. I love you, but only as a friend. You were the only one I ever had, and I am sorry that I must let you down, but the girl-"

"No, I figured as much. It was silly to assume."

They stared at each other, as they had so many times before, but he could tell something had changed. She was blocking her feelings from him because she thought he was going to die. Maybe he was.

She got up, and departed for bed, without saying a word. He looked at the ground, and tried to keep calm, even though he knew what was to come.

* * *

**I'm afraid it's only a Loki section this time! I may have one more chapter up before I go, but if not, until I return, lovlies!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi everyone! I'm back! I'm so sorry for the long wait, but I've had family issues on top of going back to school, so I haven't had much time to write! I hope you enjoy, and I will update as often as I can! Please review!**

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A Change Ch 17

Vivian was ecstatic when she landed in the airport. She knew it well, and it felt like home. The Tower had become something like home, but there was something about being back in Texas that made her heart race. She hadn't realized how much she had missed it.

Sean was waiting for her by the baggage claim. He hugged her, and gave her a quizzical look that clearly said, _Where the hell have you been?_

She sighed. Sean had been told only the basic facts: that she had to take an extended leave of work, and that she would, in all likelihood, not be able to visit for some time. Coulson had told her that he had taken the news fairly well, but she knew that he wanted an explanation, an explanation she could not give him. If she were to tell him everything, she would give up the fact that she was, for all intents and purposes, a part of the Avengers, and that she was happily living in Stark Tower, with the rest of America's heroes.

After they were safely ensconced in Sean's car, she launched into an explanation that she had been offered a job in New York, and that she had been been "tested out" on a new project for the past few weeks. They wanted to bring her on for an extended period of time, and she only had a little while to pack up everything and move to New York City. Sean was clearly hurt that she had not told him this, and that she was leaving his company for another job.

"What about the dogs and the cats? You can't take all of them to New York City."

"Well, that's already been taken care of as well," she said, evasively. She knew that she couldn't give too much away, not to Sean, not to her parents, not to anyone. She had made the decision, the decision that this was what she was going to do, and she was going to stick with it.

"But, honestly, where the hell did all this come from? I mean, why do they want you to get there so quickly? What's the rush?"

"I don't know Sean. They want me back there as soon as possible. I'm sorry, sorry for everything. I want to stay here, but this is a really good opportunity, and I think that I should go for it."

He still looked let down.

"It's fine, fine. We'll miss you, you know. All of us."

"You'll get along, and I'll come visit and shit, it's not like you'll never see me again."

He shook his head, still looking let down. She didn't want to face this. She didn't want to face saying goodbye. Coulson said she would get to keep the house, and that people would be looking after it, and she knew they would let her visit. But she loved Texas. She loved her friends and her family and her job. She didn't want to be that girl who dumped it all for a guy she had literally just met. She was more than that. But she supposed that it wasn't just about Loki. She was going to be working with the Avengers, she was going to be making a difference. That was what mattered.

The next week was busy for Vivian. She spent most of it packing and saying goodbye. She assured everyone that she would be back to visit, and that they had not seen the last of her, but she also had to constantly make up answers to questions. The new job, the uprooting everything and moving to New York, the fact that all this had come in less than a week. She was getting better at answering them, but sincerely hoped she wouldn't have to lie so much in the future.

It wouldn't be a secret forever. They would see her on television, in the news, perhaps even with the Avengers themselves. But it was better if she explained all that nonsense later.

In spite of Tony's constant reassurances on the phone, Vivian was still worried about how he was going to accommodate five dogs and four cats in a high rise building. Steve and the rest of the team agreed that they would feel right at home, and she knew Tony was going to do something amazing, but she couldn't help worrying.

She left the house, which was now almost completely empty (they were flying all her crap across the country in a private plane), and gave it a wistful look as she loaded her motley crew into her truck and headed to the landing strip where they would be taking off.

She pulled up to Stark's private jet, and immediately thought that knowing Tony was definitely going to have its benefits.

Coulson was waiting for her, and he looked shocked to see the chaos that was the inside of her truck. He helped her to load four cat carriers and four dog carriers into the jet, saying he hoped they seriously messed up Tony's jet. Within half an hour, they would be away, and Vivian would be starting her new life.

* * *

Loki left Sigyn's house early, unable to face her. He walked through the dark, empty streets. He had always liked Asgard early in the morning, when no eyes looked at him with disdain, and no one called out taunts to him. Normally, he had avoided the streets all together, and had found other, more secret ways around the city. Yet he knew that none of them would bother him now. He inspired too much fear in them now, the mad Frost Giant who had been their inferior prince.

He walked up to the castle, breathing in the fresh air. He looked up at the towering palace, and knew that he could not run, not anymore. He had to face what Odin had given him, even if the punishment he had been given was completely unreasonable.

Thor was standing by the front entrance of the palace, clearly waiting for him. Even his unshakeable brother looked afraid. He looked upon him with pity, which he could not stand. He would not be pitied. He could handle anger, hatred, and violence, but pity was another matter entirely.

"He's waiting for you," Thor said, looking sadly at him.

"Very well, I suppose there is no putting it off."

Thor merely nodded, apparently lost for words.

They walked into the magnificent hall, down to where Odin's golden throne was. Frigga was standing next to him, her face drawn and her eyes red. The only one who had ever cared for him. She and Thor. Odin looked at him, half menacing, half angry. Loki stared back, and decided he could not, would not be afraid. He would face whatever came with dignity, the dignity with which he had been raised. He would do it for Frigga, for Thor, and for Vivian, who was so very far away.

"Loki Laufeyson," Odin's voice rang through the hall, and it's coldness pierced him like a physical chill, "You are sentenced to three weeks in the pit for your crimes. Is there anything that you would like to say before you serve your punishment?"

"Yes AllFather. I would just like to say that I am sorry for what I have done to you, and to what used to be our family. I will serve my punishment willingly, and without a fight."

He meant the apology, but really only for Frigga, because his eyes softened as he looked at her, but remained hard and arrogant as he looked at the man whom he had idolized for so long.

He was taken down to the pit by four guards, followed by Frigga, Thor, Odin, and other hangers-on. He walked with dignity, trying to hold in his own fear. He would not succumb to something as feeble as that. Not now. He saw Sigyn waiting at the mouth of the abyss, and, against his will, his stomach clenched. He had only a split second to look into it, before he was thrown in, headfirst, by two of the guards.


	18. Chapter 18

**Thank you all so much for sticking with me! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

A Change Ch 18

_Pain. Pain worse than fire. Worse than death. Worse than Odin's anger. Worse than Frigga's disappointment. Worse than Thor's sympathy. Worse than leaving her. Two seconds of relief. Pain. All consuming. All encompassing. The pain was everything._

_Did he scream when it hit him? He didn't hear screaming. But what did he know? What did it look like? What did _he_ look like for that matter? His back felt like it was being burned away. Every second was an eternity, and the two between drops were even longer, because he knew what was coming, and no matter how hard he tried to brace himself, he could never sufficiently prepare for the pain that wracked him to his very soul, worse than any physical or mental pain he had ever suffered, even by the Chitauri._

_He had to think. Think about anything but the pain. What did the drops look like? Were they black and large? Or were they tiny and golden, innocent even? What was Sigyn doing? Was she pacing back and forth, worrying over him, trying to catch the drops in her little cup? Or was she with Odin and the rest of them, laughing over his slow demise?_

_He could not think about how much time had passed, it would only undo his frail grasp on sanity faster. Three weeks. Three weeks. Three weeks. Three weeks._

_His world was black. There was no light. All he knew was pain. Why couldn't it end? Why couldn't he end? But he couldn't end. He had her. He had to persevere. He had to live. If only for her._

* * *

She immediately ran to Steve when they landed in New York. He wrapped her in his enormous arms, and swung her around. She then turned to greet Tony, Bruce, Clint, and Natasha.

"You finally here for keeps? Is this our last chance to get rid of you?" asked Tony, loudly.

"There's not getting rid of me now, Stark, I'm here to stay."

"Thank God, I'm sick of wasting my money flying back and forth to the desert wasteland you live in."

She punched him genially on the arm, and watched as her things, and animals, were taken off of the jet. Tony was looking at her, and rolling his eyes, but she ignored him. Steve was talking happily about how Tony had showed him how to work the television,

"Did you know that it has over 1000 channels? I mean, wow, technology is really amazing! And you can flip back between two shows if you're watching them at the same time! And you can watch whole movies on there!"

She smiled encouragingly at him, but it was sometimes hard to grasp the fact that he was born before World War II.

They all loaded into a couple of cars. She and Steve in a large truck that was carrying all her things, Clint, Natasha, and Coulson in a sleek Chevy Tahoe, and Bruce and Tony leading the caravan in Tony's Audi. They drove through New York City, trying to avoid the press, who had somehow gotten wind that Vivian was moving into the Tower today. They ended up going a convoluted route and going through the underground parking garage through the back of the Avengers Tower.

They moved in relatively quickly, but all Vivian cared about was where the animals were going to live.

"Okay, Stark," she said, facing him, "I've heard all about this beautiful living facility for my animals. Impress me."

"With pleasure," he said with a grin, and they all loaded into the elevator (each of the team had their own personal floor), and Tony pressed the button 52. When the elevator opened, there was a small hallway, where there were several doors. Tony walked down to the first door on the right, and pointed silently to it.

She opened the door and her jaw dropped. The room was enormous, with a view of the New York skyline. There was an adjoining bathroom, which she could tell from where she was standing was also enormous. The room itself was painted a deep shade of purple, with light grey curtains on either side of the floor to ceiling windows. The bed was enormous, and also clad in a grey and purple duvet, with matching pillows. She suspected that Pepper had had something to do with this impeccable design, but she appreciated it nonetheless. There was a set of double doors across from the bathroom.

She walked over and hoped them, and burst out laughing. This must be what made up most of her personal floor. It was a massive room, that was carpeted in real grass, with cabinets and drawers set into the sides of the room. There was a little nook where there was an enormous water bowl, and a place to bathe the dogs. The cats had their own separate room, that was full of cat towers, toys, and, above all, places to lounge. The windows in this room were also floor to ceiling, so they could look out of them whenever they wanted. Vivian turned around and looked at Tony, her face shining.

"Thanks, Stark."

"What can I say? I am a completely selfless human being."

She took no time in introducing the animals into their new home, which they took to immediately. She then went into the communal kitchen, where the rest of the team was sitting.

The rest of the evening passed happily enough. They all had dinner in the spacious dining room, laughing, talking, and exchanging jesting insults. They all sat down and watched a movie afterwards, some mindless action flick that Tony picked. It was full of guns and rock music. Natasha fell asleep on Clint's shoulder, and Bruce was sprawled out on his end of the couch. Vivian was curled up next to Steve, but still, something didn't feel quite right. It had already been a few weeks since Loki had left, and sometimes, she would get the feeling that he wouldn't come back. She tried to suppress these thoughts whenever they came about, but they were still in the back of her mind all the same.

She fell asleep on the couch next to Steve, and she woke up at two in the morning next to him, with the rest of the team next to her. Even Tony was there, and he was known for his insomnia. All in all, it had been a pretty good day.

* * *

**For those of you that don't know, I was using a story from Norse mythology for Loki's punishment. He was kept in bondage and was tortured by having snake venom drip on him. (I altered it a bit, but this is where the idea came from!) please R and R!**


	19. Chapter 19

**Here's another chapter for all of you! Hope you enjoy! Please R & R!**

* * *

A Change Ch 19

He was sure he was dead when he saw the light. He had been down there too long to still be alive. None could survive for three weeks down there. He was sure the light was death. He was sure that he was gone. Then why was he still in pain? Didn't pain cease with death? Those were the stories he had always heard.

He felt hands pull him up roughly. The hands of death, surely. When they touched his back, he screamed, unashamed in front of Death. Completely unashamed. The light burned his eyes. He had not seen light in so long, so long. Why was Odin there? Who were these people? Surely, _surely_, he had not survived. Looking around at all those faces, faces he now recognized, as he realized that he must have survived his three weeks, he could not feel joy or happiness, but felt relief, because he knew that his mind had survived the three-week fall.

He stared at Odin, realizing for the first time that he was on his knees. Odin was to be the one who decided what happened to him next. He could be imprisoned in Asgard for the rest of his days. He could be forced to join the ranks of the Asgardian army. He could have his mouth sewn shut. None of these sounded particularly appealing to him. If there was any time that he wanted Odin to be merciful, it was now. He was sure that Thor had told him everything, three weeks was a long time, after all.

"Loki Laufeyson," he said in the same booming, cold, distant voice as before, "You have survived your punishment. Your next sentence will now be passed."

His eyes wandered to his mother, who was staring with tears in her eyes at him. Tears of pity. Thor was shaking. He must look terrible. He forced himself to look at Odin.

"By the word of the king, you are to live in exile in Midgard for the rest of your days. You will be under constant supervision by Heimdall. Be warned, if you ever attempt to enslave the Midgardian race again, you will be brought back to Asgard immediately, and face further punishment."

He looked up at Odin, his father. His face was cold, but there was something in his eyes that Loki had never seen there before. Was it pride? Pride that he had survived such a punishment intact? Well, more intact than expected. Whatever it was, he was not sure how to feel about it, but there was a strange feeling in his chest, as though a great weight had been lifted off of it.

"Thank you, AllFather."

"_AllFather!_" there was a shout from the crowd, and Sif came rushing through, a knife in each hand, with a look of acute rage on her face. She threw her knives down before Odin, and threw a look a purest loathing at Loki, before speaking,

"AllFather, Loki has killed innumerable people on Midgard. He almost enslaved the entire planet, and would have succeeded, were it not for Thor and his companions. Are you sure that it is wise to send him back to the very place he almost destroyed?"

The entire crowd was staring at Sif, but hardly any of them knew how they hated each other. She was always vying for Thor's attentions, which Loki had always found extremely annoying. So, to stop her being so irksome, he had also dyed her hair permanently raven black in his youth. She had called him a weakling, and he had retaliated by changing her thick gold hair, (of which she had always been so fond), to black. She had never forgiven him for that. They had hardly ever spoken after that. Of course, the fact that he had taken the throne when Thor had been in exile had not helped their relationship.

Looking at her, he could feel his lip curling in a smirk. Odin was staring at Sif, almost thoughtfully, and said,

"Lady Sif, I am rather surprised at you. Surely you would not think your decision is better than mine."

Sif was already looking embarrassed by her outburst. She muttered something about that was not what she meant, and slowly picked up her fallen knives and backed away, but not before giving Loki one last, hateful look. Some things, apparently, did not change with time.

Odin, who, of course, had known their childhood grievances, looked more amused than anything. He then looked at Loki and said,

"When you are ready, we shall go to the Bifrost."

Loki turned to his mother, who was crying silently. He approached her, and hugged her, with as much force he still had left. She was careful not to touch his injured back, and as they hugged, she sobbed uncontrollably into his shoulder. He knew that they would, in all likelihood, never see each other again. It was hard for him, she had always been the one who understood him best, and always supported him through everything that he did. When they broke apart he looked at her and said,

"Thank you, Mother."

She smiled tearfully and said,

"You are welcome, my son. Always know that I love you."

He then walked over to Sigyn, who was standing nearby. He kissed her gently on the forehead. She did not cry, that was not her nature. She looked at him rather arrogantly. He smiled at her. No words were needed. They simply understood each other that way.

He then approached Odin and, not caring whether the other around them heard him or not, said,

"I thank you, Father. For all that you have taught me."

Odin smiled slightly, and said,

"Are you ready?"

He nodded. That was all they needed as well. They understood each other at last.

They walked to the end of the rainbow bridge (which had been repaired when the Tesseract had been received on Asgard). Heimdall looked at him with his queer gold eyes. He and Thor (who would be going with him to Midgard) stepped near the portal, and he only had time to look back at his family, before they were pulled into the Bifrost together.

* * *

The next six months were the happiest of Vivian's life. She spent all her time with the Avengers, and had acclimated to their strange lifestyle very well. She accompanied them on missions, but only to deal with the press immediately after they had fixed whatever catastrophe had happened there. She found it easy to talk with the excited journalists, and had even helped Bruce become more comfortable with interviews. They had been interviewed several times as a team the past six months, and the question she was most frequently asked was what was her costume. The truth was, she had ditched dressing up for interviews and press releases fairly soon, and was usually dressed in a pair of jeans or shorts and a t-shirt. This was what she answered. Many seemed puzzled by it, but they accepted it all the same.

Spending time in the Tower was the best part of living with the Avengers. There were occasionally tiffs that had to be broken up. (Usually between Tony and another of the team.) Tony ate like a machine and Bruce hardly ate at all. She had had to learn eating patterns and habits of everyone, even though Steve did most of the cooking. She learned that Natasha and Clint spent most of their time in the gym, and Bruce and Tony spent most of theirs in the lab. She found herself spending more and more time with Steve. She showed him technology that he had never seen before, and laughed at the way he marveled at things like Tumblr and TV shows like Doctor Who.

Doctor Who was his most recent obsession. He was amazed as he watched, and would sometimes shout out things like,

"Are you sure this isn't a real place? It looks so real!"

Her animals had taken to living in a Tower very well, and they adored all of the Avengers. Tony had found that he really liked them and would sometimes spend an hour at a time playing with them.

Coulson and Fury would check in regularly. They would usually have missions or some benefit that they all had to go to.

They all sat down to dinner together every night. Steve was an excellent cook, and Tony always ate the most of any of them, even Steve, who had his super-soldier appetite.

The only thing that was not perfect was the fact that Loki constantly weighed on her mind. She often wondered what he was doing, and if he was thinking about her, because goodness knew she was thinking about him. She missed him, there was no denying that, but she always tried to avoid thinking too much about him by keeping herself busy.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello everyone! Just so you know, this will be the last chapter. Thank you all so much for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoy! As always, please R & R!**

* * *

A Change Ch 20

He and Thor landed in Midgard after rushing through the Bifrost for the last time. He knew what he was leaving behind, and yet, it seemed that what he had to look forward to far outweighed what his previous home. He turned to Thor.

"Where are we, brother?"

"I do not know. I thought the Bifrost would send us to the Tower."

They appeared to be in an old warehouse, it was empty, and the roof was leaking, leaving large puddles on the cement floor. They stood there for several minutes, tiring to figure out how they should proceed, when they heard a voice from outside of the building,

"Come out with your hands up, this is police, we have you surrounded!"

Loki gave Thor his best death-glare.

"Oh perfect Thor, some Midgardians spotted us."

"Maybe if we just explain who we are, and that we mean them no harm, we can all part ways as friends."

But, before they could move, Midgardian men clad in black and waving around their peculiar weapons burst into the room, and began shouting at them. Loki knew they had no choice to obey them, because they could not take them down without a fight and without attracting massive amounts of attention to their presence. They pulled them both around and forced metal braces around their wrists. Their hands scraped down his back, making him want to scream in pain and rage. They were both forced into separate Midgardian carriages and taken to a police station. Loki was able to read _Chicago PD_ on the side of the main desk. He was put in a small metal cell, where he sat down and sighed. Nothing ever went too smoothly when he was in Midgard.

* * *

Fury was calling her cell phone. She put her wine down and answered it, knowing Fury would hang up after three rings.

"Yeah? What is it Fury?"

"We need you all in Chicago. Now."

"What is it this time?"

"I can't debrief you until you get here. But it is imperative that you all come. Especially you."

"Fine, fine. We'll be there in…a bit."

She turned back to the now silent dinner table and said,

"Get up. We're going to Chicago. Fury wants us all there now but won't tell us why."

"Fuck," said Tony, throwing back his scotch.

He picked up his phone and called to have his jet prepared for immediate departure.

"We'll be there in a few hours. Let's go."

As they all loaded onto the plane, Vivian wondered what could be so important that Fury would want them all there immediately, but not _tell_ them anything. He usually gave them something to work with, to know if they were going into a battle or an interrogation, or a benefit.

As they flew towards Chicago, Tony was talking to Bruce about developing a new idea for S.H.I.E.L.D. weaponry, and Steve was entranced by the gadgets all around the plane. She sat in one of the plush seats, staring out the window. There was too much they didn't know. Steve sat down next to her.

"So you really don't know what we're going for?"

"Nah, Fury wouldn't give me anything. It seems sudden, though, making us all pick up and just go."

"It's our duty," said Steve, staunchly.

"I guess so."

She rested her head on his shoulder. She was tired. So tired. It had already been a long day when Fury called. She had been to three press conferences, been talked to by three different magazines wanting to do a spread on the team, and had been questioned time and time again about daily life in the Tower for an article. Yet, she was enjoying it. It was all so surreal, but all so fun and interesting at the same time.

Within four hours, they had landed in Chicago, and met Coulson there, where he was waiting on the tarmac with two black SUVs. He would not tell them anything either, but they were driven into the heart of the city. The pulled into the Chicago Police station.

As they filed through the doors, a burly looking officer walked up to Coulson and silently gestured them to a door to the right of the main desk. The were led down a typical prison hallway: all white walls and cells, and led into a interrogation room. One of the officers flipped on the light, and all the air seemed to leave the room.

There he was. His black hair was messy and even longer than when he had left. His shirt was in tatters. He looked exhausted. Yet there he was. In the flesh.

She felt the rest of the team back out of the room. He stood up as they did. He looked at her.

She launched herself into his arms and burst into tears. She could feel him wincing as she hugged him, and the bare skin of his back felt strange. She let him go and went to inspect it. Her stomach clenched. Whatever they had done to him in Asgard, it had left his back a mottled black, raw, and oozing blood in places. She looked at him, her eyes full of tears. He reached for her, and she proceeded more gently. She kissed him gently, and he responded, though not with the vigor he had when he had left. They stayed that way for a while, before she realized that the team and half the Chicago police force were watching them.

She pulled away, put a finger to his lips, and walked out of the room. She walked into the other room, and said,

"He needs to get out of here. Now."

An officer approached her,

"And what about the other one?"

"The other one?" she said, in surprise.

"The big blonde one with the hammer."

"Him too. We'll handle any damage they've done."

"Three people saw them materialize in a building in this big column of clouds and lightning. There's more damage there than you can handle."

"Listen," she said, growing angry, "They've done nothing and they need to get out of here now. And I can handle a good deal more than you think."

The policemen stood there, when Coulson stepped forward,

"I believe Director Fury spoke to you. These men have diplomatic immunity. I would suggest you let them go, unless you want the full might of the federal government to come down on you."

They said nothing, but unlocked the door, and Vivian was allowed to lead Loki to a car. Thor came out shortly afterward and, after thunderously greeting everyone, they set out for home.

As they flew towards the Tower, Loki looked out the window, his hand in hers, and eventually fell asleep. Bruce had looked him over, but could do nothing but try and soothe the pain.

When they arrived home, everyone went to their respective rooms. Loki collapsed on her bed, and she curled up next to him, not bothering to undress.

"I am glad to be home."

"I thought Asgard was home."

"No longer. Home is where you are."

She smiled to herself, and pressed herself gently into him, she quietly whispered,

"I love you."

And was awake only long enough to hear, "I love you," back.

* * *

**Thank you all so much for everything. It's been a wonderful experience!**


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